Mt. Lebanon continues to impress
The Mt. Lebanon girls lacrosse team has picked up precisely where it left off last year when the Blue Devils won the WPIAL championship.
After defeating Shady Side Academy, 16-10, Monday, the Blue Devils took a 10-0 record into Thursday’s contest against Oakland Catholic.
Through Tuesday, Mt. Lebanon was the only undefeated team in Division 1.
“I think the key to our success is we’ve played as a team. We have a lot of assisted goals, not just as individuals,” sixth-year Blue Devils coach Brian Kattan said. “Every game we’ve scored 12 goals or more. In every game six or seven players have scored goals. It hasn’t been just one person.”
The veteran team features 12 seniors on its roster, including six in the starting lineup. Five players have scored 17 goals or more, led by speedy junior attacker Megan Gibbons, who had 48 at the start of the week.
“There really isn’t any set style. We’ll fast break if we get the chance, but we’ve been a very patient team. We’ll slow it down and pass on offense,” Kattan said.
The idea is to retain possession. Most of Mt. Lebanon’s goals are scored at close range. But this does not mean that goalie Carina Barnes is just along for the ride. Barnes, who plans to play at Kenyon College next season, is averaging 10 saves a game.
“She does everything well. She’s a very calm player who makes a lot of saves, especially early,” Kattan said.
Barnes also benefits from having a quality defensive unit in front of her, featuring seniors Liz Donley and Lainey Lipinski and juniors Laura Pryor and Molly Collins.
“Liz and Laney are very similar. They play very well one-onone,” Kattan said. “Laura and Molly are very good at interceptions and takeaways.”
Other key performers include senior midfielders Allena Holzworth, who may have the most accurate shot on the team, and Amanda Riesmeyer, who both had 21 goals at the start of the week.
Junior attacker Anna Albers leads the team with 30 assists while scoring 17 goals going into this week while junior midfielder Sophia Klaber also is a 20-goal scorer.
Monday’s game against the Indians began a stretch of the Mt. Lebanon schedule where four of
the final seven teams on the schedule are ranked among the Top 10 Western Pennsylvania girls lacrosse teams by laxpower.com.
But their coach is unfazed. “Our players aren’t resting on last year,” Kattan said. “We don’t discuss last year and what happened. The players are focused and learning something different every day.”