North Allegheny, Mars win
Defense has been a huge part of the team’s success for the North Allegheny boys lacrosse team this season. Friday night at Highmark Stadium, though, the Tigers outdid themselves with a 9-7 victory against Mt. Lebanon in the WPIAL Division 1 championship. It was the Tigers’ first WPIAL title after losing twice to Mt. Lebanon in the 2013 and 2015 championships.
The Tigers enter the PIAA tournament next week with a 13-8 record. The Blue Devils, which also will play in the PIAA tournament, are 14-7.
“Without a doubt, our defense has been solid all year,” North Allegheny coach John Rullan said. “Jack Kairys, Greg Ferringer, Doug Wild and Antonio O’Barto have been solid all year.”
Goalie Ean Kuska turned aside 12 shots for the Tigers.
That defense ably complemented a Tigers offense that scored three goals in a 56-second period in the first quarter that wiped out an early 1-0 Mt. Lebanon lead.
“It was a great game on their part,” Mt. Lebanon coach Mike Ermer said. “They executed the game plan well. We shot the ball around 15 percent.”
Weston Powell sandwiched two goals around a score by Gavin Hagen in that flurry.
They were the Tigers’ leading scorers with two goals each. In the second quarter, Matt Osten and Trevor Perry scored in an eight-second frame to give the Tigers a 6-2 lead.
“When they scored, we answered,” Rullan said.
Mt. Lebanon’s Connor Brumfield led all scorers with four goals.
Division 2
Andrew Moyer scored four goals, and Blake Thompson added three more as Mars withstood a fierce third-quarter rally from Hampton to beat the Talbots, 15-10, and win the WPIAL Division 2 boys championship at Highmark Stadium.
The Planets finished the season at 19-1. It was the second time Mars defeated the Talbots this season. Hampton finished with a 13-7 record.
Trailing, 9-4, at halftime, the Talbots outscored the Planets to close the margin to 10-8 entering the fourth period.
“We weren’t playing Mars lacrosse at the time,” Planets coach Ed Monahan. “We kept making mental errors.”
But a constant that helped the Planets domination was on faceoffs. The Planets won all but three of them, and closed out the game on a 5-2 run in the fourth quarter.
“That gave us a little bit of breathing room,” he said of the fourth-quarter run.
Isaac Capezzuti, a junor, led the Talbots with four goals. Richard Myros, a sophomore, added three.