Balance in scoring is key to Blackhawk’s success
Blackhawk has not won the WPIAL Class 2A girls lacrosse title since 2016, but there are indications that this season could see an end to the school’s five- year drought.
“We beat Mars, which was a big step right there because I think Mars is one of the best teams in Division II,” Blackhawk coach Kevin White said. “The girls gutted it out and, we’re always one of the better teams. We’re fortunate that we haven’t had a losing season since our first year in 2011, so we’re always in the game.”
As the season nears its halfway point, Blackhawk may have moved from participant to key player.
Blackhawk has one of the more balanced teams in the classification with five players who have between 12 and 15 goals. Senior center Felicia Young leads the team with 15, freshman attack Mia Piocquidio has 14, sophomore attack Alayna Cipolla has 13 and both junior attack Bailey Nicely and junior midfielder Chloe Courinos have 12.
“Mia Piocquidio is just killing it offensively and defensively, and we also have another freshman Riley McKnight, who is leading the team in assists (11) and that’s pretty amazing,” White said. “Alayna Cipolla is really lighting things up, but my strongest group is probably my group of juniors because the kids create havoc and they create turnovers.”
There are several teams that could attest to that.
Not only did Blackhawk pull out a 10-8 victory against a Mars (8-1-0) team that had been undefeated going in, it has also defeated perennial WPIAL finals contenders in Seton LaSalle and Quaker Valley. The Cougars have rolled up 87 goals so far this season and have averaged 12.4 goals per game.
Only Seton LaSalle, which lost to Blackhawk, 8-5, has been able to hold the team to single digits.
It’s not just that Blackhawk has been able to fill the opposing net. The Cougars defense has been solid as well as they have only surrendered 41 goals (5.86 per game) even though the team is using a goaltender rotation system with junior Jules Homikel and sophomore Addy Ours splitting time evenly and alternating games.
Still, Blackhawk has a few challenges in store if it wants to return to the finals for the first time since winning it all in 2016.
“I think it would be a possibility,” White said. “I also think it would be neat to win in our 10-year anniversary as a team.”
Bethel Park boys
Bethel Park has always had a competitive boys lacrosse program, but this year may exceed expectations.
“We’re putting together a pretty good season and doing a little better than I thought we were going to do and it’s going pretty well so far,” Bethel Park coach Tim Schreiber said. “A lot of teams had a really legit senior class last year, ourselves included, and then you kind of have a few kids who played as sophomores and maybe as freshmen, but for the most part our kids have played middle school lacrosse or junior varsity.”
Even with a relatively young and inexperienced squad, Bethel Park opened the campaign with four consecutive victories, including a key win against Peters Township. Though the Black Hawks stumbled a bit with back-to-back losses to perennial contenders Mt. Lebanon and North Allegheny, they were able to stay with those teams a lot better than in the past.
In 2019, Bethel Park lost to Mt. Lebanon, 16-5, in the regular season and 16-6 in the WPIAL quarterfinals. This year, the Black Hawks dropped a 9-3 match to the Blue Devils.
Bethel Park also has some players back from that 10-goal playoff loss two seasons ago, including senior midfielder Justin Wodarek and junior middie Troy Volpetti, who was also the starting running back on the football team.
“They’ve been our two main scoring threats,” Schrieber said. “Also our goalie, Owen Peters, he’s a junior and he’s going to get some Division I looks.”
Considering where every team started this year, the main key is improvement and Bethel Park is no exception. That’s why losses to North Allegheny and Mt. Lebanon could be beneficial come playoff time.
“I think the first thing is it’s a nice gauge as to where we sit in the kind of WPIAL hierarchy and, two, it gives us some film and other things that we can use to improve,” Schreiber said. “When you’re practicing every day and not playing, it’s hard to gauge what needs fixed.”