Tigers Top Rams In WPIAL Quarterfinals, John Rullan Wins 300th Career Game
By: Jared Barton
The North Allegheny boys’ lacrosse team advanced to the WPIAL Semifinals with an 11-8 win over Pine-Richland from Newman Stadium Thursday night. The victory was also head coach John Rullan’s 300th career win with the program.
The Rams had control of the contest early, with an opening goal from senior JL Aiello. Roughly eight minutes later, sophomore Nick Sichak scored to tie the game. With 13 seconds left in the quarter, PR’s Clayton Speakman scored his first and the Rams led 2-1 after one quarter.
Pine-Richland tallied another score in the opening minutes of the second frame on a shot from Callan DeGrands. North Allegheny then went to work and never looked back. Sichak scored his second of the contest, followed by a goal from senior Evan Lyon. Junior Travis Lamark gave NA the first lead of the contest on a man-up opportunity, while Lyon added his second of the game with 10 seconds left in the half. PR’s Cooper Zancosky snuck a goal with less than a second left in the half, and the Tigers led 5-4 after two periods.
Travis Lamark celebrates one of his four goals in the WPIAL quarterfinals.
North Allegheny had hat-trick goals from both Lyon and Sichak to open the third quarter. Zancosky cut into the 7-4 NA lead with a man-up marker, but Lamark added three more goals before the frame ended. Speakman also tallied his second goal in the third.
Zancosky registered a hat trick to start the fourth stanza, as NA led 10-7. He would also score his 4th on a man-up chance with just over three minutes left in regulation. But Sichak provided the dagger a minute later to put the game out of reach. The sophomore earned Wright Automotive Player of the Game laurels for his four-goal performance. Lamark also tallied four, while Lyon registered a hat trick.
With the win, NA improves to 13-6 overall and advances to Monday’s WPIAL 3A Semifinal with site, time and opponent to be determined. Live coverage will be provided by the North Allegheny Sports Network.
BOYS LACROSSE SUMMARY VS. PINE-RICHLAND, 5-16-24
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pine-Richland | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| North Allegheny | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 11 |