Mt. Lebanon LAX player tops all-star list
Brian Ward was one of three area athletes who garnered All-America honors for boys’ lacrosse. The recent Mt. Lebanon graduate, who will play at Yale, was also recognized as the WPIAL’s Division I Player of the Year as well as The Almanac’s MVP.
Olivia Caragein was honored as an academic All-American for girls’ lacrosse. The recent Seton-La Salle graduate will play for Seton Hill University in the future.
Brian Ward led the list of all-stars in lacrosse from Mt. Lebanon. The Yale-bound player garnered Division I Player of the Year laurels from the WPIAL and All-America status from U.S. Lacrosse.
A two-time Almanac MVP, Ward rolled up 64 goals and dished up 32 assists for the Blue Devils this spring.
Nick Tommasi joined Ward on the All-America list. Both Lebo standouts, along with Dan Lee, earned All-WPIAL honors as well as all-section acclaim. Preston Chamberlin also netted all-section laurels.
While Mike Ermer was voted WPIAL person of the year, Brian Kattan was recognized as coach of the year by the league and by U.S. Lacrosse. Both coaches guided Lebo to the WPIAL finals, with the girls winning the title and advancing to the semifinals in the state competition.
Megan Gibbons and Sophia Klaber were big reasons why the Lebo ladies enjoyed success. Both gained All-America recognition, along with all-district and all-section honors. Molly Collins, who was also all-section and all-district, earned academic All-America status.
Elsewhere, Olivia Caragein gained academic All-America acclaim. The recent Seton-La Salle graduate earned the distinction for the second straight season. She is one of only seven lacrosse players from the WPIAL honored as such for her accomplishments on the field, work in the classroom and activities and service to school and community.
In addition, Caragein was a two-time all-section selection and WPIAL all-star. She was a finalist for The Almanac’s Female Athlete of the Year award.
Two other area players merited All-America attention. While Logan Maloni gained the honor as an attack player for Peters Township, Maria Stamera earned the feat for Chartiers Valley. Maloni and Stamera also were WPIAL Division I and Section all-stars.
Stamera led the Colts to the WPIAL and state quarterfinals, where they lost each time to Mt. Lebanon. The Cincinnati recruit scored 88 goals this spring.
Stamera’s teammate Margo Mason also gained district and section honors, while Alivia Cangelier was an all-section performer.
Among the other area girls to net both WPIAL and section recognition were Ellie Grefenstette from Seton-La Salle, Delaney Lacey from Bethel Park, Mia Toscano from Peters Township, Isabel schidenhelm from Canon-McMillan, and Chelsea Johnson and Lauren Piecknick from Upper St. Clair.
All-section selections for the ladies also included Shelby Zahren from Upper St. Clair; Kayte Zeiler, Zoe Zilcosky and Jill Sosnak, all from Bethel Park; and Nicole Slain and Samantha Staley from Canon-McMillan.
Brianne Laffey from Upper St. Clair was recognized by the WPIAL as the Division I girls’ coach of the year.
The only other area boy who garnered All-WPIAL acclaim was Logan Gray from Canon-McMillan. He also was the face-off selection for Section 3.
Those who gained all-section distinction also included Jack Delaney and James Minton from Peters Township; Noah Bussard and Adam Debski from Bethel Park; Colin Kerr, Jimmy Wilkinson, Haris Rahman and Grant Evans from USC; Cian Malcolm and Matt Tolmer from Chartiers Valley; and Brady Ruth and Colin Torpey from Canon-McMillan.