Freeport looking for more magic
Boys lacrosse team on playoff run
Freeport didn’t exactly turn the boys lacrosse world on its head in the regular season. Finishing at .500 and sneaking into the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs as the 12th and last seed usually does not bode well for making an indelible mark in the postseason, either.
Then something happened when the playoffs began. The scattershot Yellowjackets, who did not win more than two games in a row the entire regular season, have put together two the most improbable victories since the sport was first recognized by the WPIAL in 2009.
“We’re playing more disciplined,” firstyear Freeport coach Dave Riley said. “Early in the season, we lost maybe three or four games where we had a lot of penalties and we had games when we had 11, 12 or 13 minutes in penalties and, when you’re serving penalties a quarter of the game, you’re not going to win many doing that.”
So far in the playoffs, Freeport has almost completely avoided playing a man down and, with the added stability of playing at even strength throughout, has moved into the WPIAL semifinals for the first time in school history. To get there, the Yellowjackets upset fifth-seeded Chartiers Valley, 11-10, in overtime and followed that with a 7-6 victory against No. 4 Moon.
“In our two playoff games, against Chartiers Valley we had two 30-second penalties and with [Moon] it was like two minutes,” Riley said. “We have better ball control, we’re bringing the ball down, we’re trying to keep possession and work the offense to keep possession.”
Helping the offense stay on track are the team’s two top attackers, senior attacking midfielder and Marietta recruit Sean Fennell and junior Garrett Schaffhauser, who scored the overtime game-winner against the Colts. But they will be sorely tested in the semifinals as they will have to take on top-seeded Mars at 6 p.m. Monday at Fox Chapel. Mars has three consecutive titles to its credit as well as a 19-5 regular-season win against Freeport.
“We have to get more possession and, one of the biggest things was, and I don’t have the exact numbers, but, if there were 35 faceoffs, they won 34 of them, so we’re going to have to do something,” Riley said. “I’ve got something planned to hopefully turn those into ground balls instead of being an automatic possession for them.”
While Freeport made things interesting on one side of the bracket, the other played to its expected conclusion as No. 2 Hampton will face third-seeded Quaker Valley at 8 p.m. Monday at North Allegheny. In their first meeting May 9, the Talbots beat the Quakers, 10-8.
Class 3A
North Allegheny has avoided the Class 3A No. 1 seed curse so far in the playoffs. Then again, the Tigers had a first-round bye and have only played one match, a 10-3 victory against Seneca Valley, which it had beaten by seven goals in the regular season. Now things get a bit more interesting.
North Allegheny will travel to Moon for a 7:30 p.m. showdown Monday against No. 4 Mt. Lebanon. The Tigers played the Blue Devils in their regular-season opener, winning, 8-6. That was one of only two losses Mt. Lebanon had against a WPIAL team this year.
Mt. Lebanon’s only other loss to a WPIAL program was a 10-7 defeat against Shady Side Academy. The Indians also will be in the semifinals as the No. 3 seed and will play Pine-Richland at Mars at 7:30 p.m. In their first meeting this season April 23, the Rams earned a 7-6 win at Shady Side Academy.