Tigers Tie Butler, Extend Unbeaten Streak To Eight
The North Allegheny boys’ soccer team continued its impressive unbeaten streak to begin the 2016 season with a 2-2 tie at Butler on Tuesday night. Dating back to last season, the Tigers have gone without a loss in 23 of their last 24 games.
The Tigers wasted little time against their Section 1-AAAA opponent and scored the game’s first goal just over a minute into the contest. Receiving a throw-in pass from senior Alex Goto, fellow senior James Nolan dribbled in and uncorked a left-footed shot that found the upper-left corner of the net for a 1-0 North Allegheny lead. NA maintained that lead before an untimely penalty and yellow card was issued at 21:12 of the half. Butler quickly capitalized on a Tate Mohney free kick and goal to tie the score at 1-1. The Golden Tornado nearly took the lead with two minutes remaining in the half but NA goalie Grant Glorioso made a terrific save to stop Butler’s Alec Livermore and kept the game tied at 1-1 going into intermission.
The second half began in similar fashion to the first half with an immediate North Allegheny goal. Senior Owen Leonard rang a shot off the cross bar and senior Ben Cinker punched home the rebound with 38:36 on the clock to put NA on top, 2-1. Continuing his torrid scoring, Cinker proved to be a pest to the Butler defense all game and was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game by the North Allegheny Sports Network. NASN also spoke to Cinker in a pregame interview that can be seen below.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, there was another similarity to the first half and that was again a game-tying goal by Mohny. This time with 9:27 remaining in regulation, Mohny took a pass from midfield and beat three North Allegheny defenders for an outstanding goal to tie the score at 2-2 and ultimately force overtime.
Both teams had their chances in the extra session. Cinker nearly netted a game-winner one minute into OT but his shot from the doorstep sailed high of the crossbar. In the second overtime, it was Butler who had a golden opportunity with 6:37 remaining but junior Devin Goehring was robbed on a top-shelf save by Glorioso to help NA maintain its unbeaten streak in a 2-2 draw.
North Allegheny’s record sits at 5-0-3 overall and 2-0-2 in Section 1-AAAA. Butler is 3-2-2 overall and 0-2-2 in the section. The Tigers return to action on Thursday night with a visit to North Hills at 7:30.
Boys Soccer Summary vs. Butler, 9-20-16
| GAME SUMMARY | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY HALVES | 1 | 2 | OT1 | OT2 | FINAL |
| North Allegheny | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Butler | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |