CV plays numbers game well
Chartiers Valley may have one of the smaller rosters among potential postseason teams in WPIAL Class 2A boys lacrosse, but that doesn’t mean the Colts aren’t able to utilize what they have to its fullest potential.
“We only have 16 or 17 kids on our team, which isn’t a lot because a lot of the teams we play have like high 20s or 30-some kids,” Chartiers Valley coach Dom Tolomeo said. “But the seniors I have up front, a lot of them have been playing together since they were 6years-old and they just love the sport, love to compete and they love to win.”
So far this season, Chartiers Valley has done quite a bit of winning as the team came into the week 9-4-0 and has all but locked up a share of the Section 1 title and a top seed when the playoff brackets are announced next week. What makes it even more surprising is how the Colts have been able to get into prime position after nearly not being able to put out a full starting lineup.
“When we started the season, there were only 10 or 11 of them, which is just enough to field a team,” Tolomeo said. “Then they started reaching out to a few friends and I ended up with our kids this year who picked up a stick for the first time and they all got their first goals in a game [against Gateway].”
Though there are several inexperienced players on the squad, that core group has been instrumental in quickly indoctrinating the younger players into the ins and outs of the sport.
Senior long-stick midfielder Jared Schweikert leads a solid defensive group, while attackers Jake Troiano and Thomas Nomides have generated much of the team’s offense.
Still, perhaps the best thing that happened to Chartiers Valley was losing to Hampton, 10-4, on April 22. It was a perfect barometer for the team to find out exactly where it stood a couple of weeks before the start of the playoffs.
“That was a game I personally wanted to win because I lost to Hampton in the WPIAL championship when I played. I know what kind of program Hampton has and what kind of program they’re going to bring forth every year,” Tolomeo said. “I think we have the discipline and talent to beat them if we see them again, but I think they really realized we have to go back to the drawing board, we haven’t earned anything yet and, when we prove we can play in the WPIAL championship, that’s when people will realize.”
Mt. Lebanon girls
Mt. Lebanon is never all that far away from being the team to beat in WPIAL Class 3A girls lacrosse.
Since winning their most recent championship in 2016, the Blue Devils have made it to the finals each of the past three times the tournament was contested, with the exact same results. Whether it was Pine-Richland in 2017, Sewickley Academy in 2018 or Shady Side Academy in 2019, they have been knocked out of the playoffs in the semifinals every time.
This year, though, Mt Lebanon may be ready to make a move into the next round and challenge for the school’s sixth title since 2004.
“So far so good. It’s been a good year so far,” Mt Lebanon coach Brian Kattan said. “I think everybody started out the same way. We graduated a lot of great kids last year, so we started out with six kids who had never played a varsity game before.”
As the season has progressed, so has the growth of the team. Mt. Lebanon came into the week 10-1-0 and with an opportunity to pull down one of the top four seeds in the playoffs when the brackets are announced next week.
And the Blue Devils have had a few players come to the forefront who have been pleasant surprises, including attacker Tegan Hoover who has sparked the team’s offense.
“Tegan has done a really great job at getting better each game,” Kattan said. “She’s really stepped up and she’s really working hard.”
While the Blue Devils young guns have come along nicely, the team is built around its veterans. Junior Reagan Murdoch and Bridie Cain have solidified the midfield and added leadership despite being thrust into the role after the year off.
Cain, in fact, showed her leadership skills last year despite the coronavirus shutdown.
“She made our seniors last year feel special and she’s really been able to step it up this year and it’s been great,” Kattan said. “She led the senior parade last year when we got a lot of cars together and drove past the seniors’ houses because we couldn’t have senior night. She really did a lot of great things last year that helped her jump into the leadership role this year even more.”
With the inexperienced players rounding into form and the veterans leading the way, Mt. Lebanon is now to the point where all it has to do is hone its game as it heads into the playoffs.
“I think it’s going to be a good week this week and we have Bethel Park on Saturday,” Kattan said. “I think Bethel may be our toughest game of the year because they’re in first place and playing really well, so it will be a good test going into the playoffs.”