Peters Township wins first WPIAL lacrosse title
Peters Township’s Daniel Bacchiochi (No. 22) cradles the ball while fending off Shady Side Academy defender Wesley Klinvex during WPIAL Class AAA semifinal boys’ lacrosse action. During the championship contest, the junior fired in the decisive goal with 2:41 remaining and lifted the Indians to their first-ever WPIAL title with a 12-11 victory over the Blue Devils.
Patrick Moeller makes his move for Mt. Lebanon during WPIAL lacrosse playoff action.
Brendan McCarthy breaks away from the pack once he controls the ball and heads downfield during WPIAL lacrosse playoff action.
Peters Township’s Nicki Phelps controls the face-off against Shady Side Academy during WPIAL Class AAA boys’ lacrosse semifinal action.
Peters Township’s Zach Grambling makes his way downfield after beating a pair of Shady Side Academy defenders during WPIAL Class AAA boys’ lacrosse action.
ebailey@thealmanac.net
After Mt. Lebanon defeated Upper St. Clair, 12-6, in the semifinals, Mike Ermer made a prediction regarding the WPIAL Class AAA boys’ lacrosse championship match played May 26 at Joe Walton Stadium on the Robert Morris University campus.
“It should be an entertaining game,” said the Lebo skipper. “They certainly have some great athletes.”
Indeed the match was as thrilling as the Pens’ seventh game against the Ottawa Senators in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It, too, went to double overtime and the great athlete for Peters Township proved to be Daniel Bacchiochi. The junior fired in the decisive goal with 2:41 remaining and lifted the Indians to their first-ever WPIAL title with a 12-11 victory over the Blue Devils.
“That was probably one of the best games of lacrosse that I’ve ever seen,” said Peters skipper Michael Kaplan, who is good friends with Ermer.
In addition to being friendly rivals, the two teams were section foes and during the regular season, the Indians had recorded a 10-5 victory against the Blue Devils.
“Since we played them last, we tweaked some things and made a couple of adjustments and the kids bought into it,” said Ermer.
After finishing as runner-up to NA in the 2016 final, Lebo started the year as a “brand new team” that had to “find” its bearings. Though they had been to five consecutive finals, the Blue Devils entered the championship match with a 12-8 overall record. Lebo and Peters (15-6) tied for the section title. Seeded eighth in the tournament, the Blue Devils upset top-seeded North Allegheny, 9-4, in the playoff opener before toppling the Panthers.
“It was an inconsistent year and we earned our seed and the road ahead of us,” Ermer said. “Maybe there’s a little pride in where we were and fighting back. I think our guys relished that.”
Peters, also fought back. The Indians needed an extra frame to reach the finals. Aidan McCall’s goal with 1:07 remaining in overtime vaulted the Indians to victory, 7-6, against Shady Side Academy in the semifinals played at Mars Athletic Complex.
SSA forced the extra 4-minute frame when Matthew Cottiero scored the equalizer with one second left in regulation play. Also, in that fourth frame, SSA rebounded twice from one-goal deficits.
Zach Grambling and Clayton Scott gave Peters leads of 5-4 and 6-5 with 9:50 and 4:13 to play before SSA rallied for the tying goals, one of which was scored by Clayton Krol.
Dante Mahremes scored the lone goal in the third quarter. The tally, coming with 1:26 left in the period, knotted the contest at 4.
“If they carried the momentum,” Kaplan said after Cottiero’s score, “that’s the ballgame.” But Kaplan credited the Peters defense. “Those guys fought tooth and nail all game.”
In the championship game, Peters appeared to have an easy fight as the Indians opened up a 5-0 advantage during the first quarter of action. Zach Casilli, Ben Delaney, Clayton Scott, Colton Abate and McCall staked the Indians to the lead before Connor Brumfield put the Blue Devils on the scoreboard.
Tim McMullen, John Sramac (2), Sam Rothschild sandwiched goals around Scott’s second-quarter tally as the Indians eked out a 6-5 edge by intermission.
Action see-sawed in the second half. Five times the game was tied.
Delaney, Casilli, Abate and Aiden Stopperich scored goals for the Indians in the third quarter. Sramac, David Harvey, McMillen and Mark Pesacreta contributed the scores for Lebo.
In the fourth frame, Sramac’s fourth goal gave the Blue Devils the lead, 11-10, but with 54 seconds remaining in regulation Will Delaney scored for the Indians, pushing the game into overtime.
After a scoreless four-minute overtime, Bacchiochi put the Blue Devils away. The junior attackman not only accounted for the game-winning goal, he registered two assists in the contest.
With their first district title in the record books, the Indians began their quest for a state championship on May 30. Peters Township played District 3 runner-up Manheim Township at Hempfield. Lebo also qualified for the state tournament. The Blue Devils played District 3 champion Wilson at Central Dauphin in their PIAA opener.
Shady Side Academy defeated Upper St. Clair, 10-7, in the WPIAL consolation match to earn the final PIAA berth.
Lebo blasts USC
A five-goal third period broke open a close contest and thrust Mt. Lebanon into the WPIAL Class AAA boys’ lacrosse finals. The Blue Devils clung to a 5-3 halftime advantage before registering a 10-6 victory against Upper St. Clair, 12-6, in a semifinal showdown between South Hills rivals played at the Mars Athletic Complex.
Owen Meyer sparked the attack. He recorded a hat trick and tallied two of those goals in the decisive third quarter.
Though USC struck first, Lebo responded with three goals within a two-minute span in the first frame to establish the tempo and take the lead, 3-1, it never relinquished.
Patrick Moeller proved the playmaker for the Blue Devils. He scored once but collected four assists. John Sramac registered two goals while Colin White, Mark Pesacreta, Connor Brumfield, Nathan Bashaw David Harvey and Tim McMullen completed the goal-scoring. McMullan (2) and Brumfield accounted for the team’s other assists.
For the Panthers, who have not beaten their arch rivals in 11 years, Wyatt Antkiewicz and James Wilkinson scored twice. Karl Flinter and Alex Strain had the other scores.
PT wins in OT
Aidan McCall’s goal with 1:07 remaining in overtime vaulted Peters Township into the boys’ lacrosse final. The tallied finalized a 7-6 victory against Shady Side Academy in the semifinals played at Mars Athletic Complex.
SSA forced an extra 4-minute frame when Matthew Cottiero scored the equalizer with one second left in regulation play. Also, in that fourth frame, SSA rebounded twice from one-goal deficits.
Zach Grambling and Clayton Scott gave Peters leads of 5-4 and 6-5 with 9:50 and 4:13 to play before SSA rallied for the tying goals, one of which was scored by Clayton Krol.