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Mt. Lebanon boys runners-up in WPIAL lacrosse

By Eleanor Bailey 3 min read
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Mt. Lebanon team captains Connor Brumfield, Jesse Dodd, Nicholas Tommasi and Brian Ward along with head coach Mike Ermer accept the WPIAL runner-up trophy.

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Connor Brumfield

Shots don’t win lacrosse matches. Goals do. Mt. Lebanon learned that lesson the hard way. The Blue Devils converted just 17 of 40 shots on goal and as a result, they lost their bid for a WPIAL title. Lebo dropped a 9-7 decision to North Allegheny in the Division I boys’ championship match played May 27 at Highmark Stadium.

“When you are making less than 15 percent of your shots it’s going to be a long day,” said Lebo skipper Mike Ermer. “We did not shoot the ball well.”

Ean Kuska contributed to Lebo’s woes. The NA goalie made 12 saves.

“Hats off to him. (Kuska) had a great game,” Ermer said. “Their goalie was excellent. He was outstanding.”

NA’s entire defense played well. The Tigers tightened things up after having allowed double-digit goals the last time the two teams met. In that regular-season contest, Lebo won, 18-5.

Guys like Jack Kairys, Greg Ferringer, Doug Wilc and Antonio O’Barto excelled as the Tigers opted to utilized a zone defense that appeared to baffle the Blue Devils. “We’ve seen that zone before,” Ermer noted. “Our trouble was finishing shots. When you keep a team to under 10 goals, usually you can expect to win. But, NA was better than us. John Rullan and his assistants did a great job.”

Connor Brumfield did a great job of keeping the Blue Devils in the game. The junior led all scorers with four goals.

Brian Ward put the Blue Devils on a positive footing. His score four minutes into the contest lifted Lebo into the lead, 1-0. The Tigers, however, responded with four goals, a pair each by Weston Powell and Gavin Hagan, to close out the first period.

Though the Tigers never trailed again, Owen Chamberlin kept the difference at three goals, 6-3, with a pair of scores in the second stanza.

Brumfield scored all his goals in the second half. His tally, assisted by David Harvey, at the 4:40 mark in the third stanza cut the Lebo deficit again to three, 7-4. His goal, assisted by Ward, with 5:47 to play made it 8-5. Cameron Haley and Ward dished up assists on Brumfield’s scores with 1:45 and 13 seconds to play.

Lebo reached the finals with a 16-10 win against Pine-Richland in the semifinals.

Dan Lee led all scorers. The Ithaca College recruit fired in seven goals. Ward, who will play at Yale, registered a hat trick while Nathan Bashaw and Brumfield tallied two goals each.

For the Blue Devils, their championship date with NA was the third meeting in four years. Lebo won WPIAL titles in 2013 and 2015. Despite the loss to the Tigers, the Blue Devils, who are 14-8 overall, have qualified for the PIAA tournament. Their first-round game is set for June 1 against State College at Cumberland Valley.

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