Tigers Roll Ramblers For Doubleheader Sweep
By Randy Gore
The North Allegheny water polo team hosted its first midweek doubleheader of the 2025 season and earned a doubleheader sweep over the visiting Cathedral Prep Ramblers. The NA girls’ team cruised to an 18-9 victory, and the NA boys’ squad dominated the nightcap en route to a 17-11 victory.
In game one of the twin bill, Cathedral Prep’s Anna Socash netted the first tally of the night just 33 seconds into the game. The opening goal was a mirage, however, as the Tigers scored the next seven consecutive goals to grab a 7-1 advantage with 5:44 left in the second period. Senior Bella Spino, a Washington & Jefferson College commit, netted six of the first seven goals on her way to an eye-popping 12-goal performance. Adding five steals and four assists, Spino was tabbed the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.
After back-to-back goals by CP’s Alexis Ferrare cut the NA advantage to 7-3, Spino scored three straight goals to give NA a 10-3 lead at intermission.
North Allegheny tallied six of the first seven goals in the second half to blow the game wide open for a 16-4 lead with 2:12 remaining in the third period. The Tigers called off the dogs in the remaining minutes and coasted to an 18-9 triumph.
Along with Spino’s big night, junior Lila Sonaer tallied a hat trick, four assists, and pestered the Ramblers with five steals. Senior Mikaela Dassanaike added a pair of goals with three assists and three steals, while sophomore Selin Emekter capped the scoring with 1:01 left in the fourth period. In net, senior goalie Katherine Vales made five saves in the first half and was spelled by freshman Myra Anand, who made a pair of saves in the second half.
Senior Callan Bunger paced the Tigers’ attack with a team-high seven goals and six assists.
In the boys’ contest, the Tigers pounced on the Ramblers with six consecutive goals to start the game and raced to a 12-3 lead by halftime. Senior captain Callan Bunger led the charge for the Tigers, scoring six of his team-high seven goals in the first half. In a dominant all-around effort, Bunger added a team-high five steals to secure Wright Automotive Player of the Game honors.
With NA substituting liberally in the second half, Cathedral Prep made the score look respectable, but the final score of 17-11 was not indicative of how one-sided a victory it was for the reigning state champions. In all, nine different players scored goals for the Tigers. Sophomores Filip Malezanov and Tabari Morgan totaled two goals apiece, while senior Philip Liulias, sophomore Max LaFuria, senior Logan Purnell, freshman Noah Cochrane, junior Ekagra Sanan and Bryce Miller netted one goal each. Morgan helped facilitate the offense with a team-best six assists.
Senior goalie Mike Stefanko totaled five saves in the first half and freshman Gannon Brooks collected two saves in the second half.
Following Tuesday night’s results, the NA girls’ team claimed its third win in a row to improve to 4-7 overall, while CP remains winless at 0-7. The NA boys’ squad leaps to 11-1 overall, while Cathedral Prep falls to 3-9. Both teams will take part in the Erie Challenge over the weekend.
