Without a doubt the most highly anticipated game of the regular season did everything but disappoint. Sewickley Academy and Mt. Lebanon, the elite class of Division I, were knotted at 6-6 heading into the half before the Blue Devils surged ahead for an impressive 15-8 section win on the road. And according to Sewickley's head coach Tim Hastings, these two will likely see each other again this weekend in MSLCA play.
But yesterday afternoon on Sewickley's home field, about as muddy as a WWI trench, both sides struggled to scrap for every ground ball and grind out another chapter to an already storied rivalry.
In the second quarter, Lebo had a 4-2 lead but it was the Panthers that were writing history. With two early goals, senior attackman and Towson-bound Ed Lally became Sewickley's all-time leading goal-scorer. Unfortunately for the Panthers, it looked like Lally maybe pulled his hamstring sometime in the second quarter as he hobbled off the field at the half but continued to play and fight through the pain.
The Panthers cut the deficit to 4-3 with about eight minuted left in the half but 19 seconds later, Nate Relich put Lebo back up by two, 5-3. At this point the midfield and creases were totally torn up and the playing surface resembled the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins Monday night rain game back in 2007.
With seven minutes left in the half it was Relich again who capitalized on a botched clear by the Panthers and scored with ease to give Lebo a 6-3 lead. Down three with six and a half minutes to play, Sewickley needed a lift and it came in the form of an Ian Hrycenko dish to Keegan MacDougal to start an unanswered three-goal run to round out the half. Ben Brown found Matt Peter for a nice one-timer then Peter picked out Jake Mulholland with perfect precision for a layup goal directly in front of the net to tie the game at halftime.
With two quarters to play, the game was completely up for grabs. Both sides were equally having trouble with ground balls in the outrageously muddy spots and clears were far from flawless, with both teams turning the ball over occasionally on errant passes.
But Lebo snatched up the second half momentum a little over a minute into the third when Scott Allen fired an absolute laser to give the Blue Devils a 7-6 lead. The Panthers responded a minute and 40 seconds later when Rob Kendall dangled low, dodged to his right and beat his man and the goalie for a perfectly placed shot to tie the game, 7-7.
Unfortunately for Sewickley, that would be the last goal the home team would tally before a Lebo went on an unanswered six-goal run. At the 7:46 mark in the third, Lebo's quick passes lead to Relich finding Vijanbijan Fourazon who wound up from point blank and lifted the Blue Devils to an 8-7 lead. And again from directly in front of the crease, Lebo netted an easy score from Pat Donnally with 4:49 left in the third.
Lebo tacked on another score before the end of the third and took a 10-7 lead into the final quarter of play. A minute and a half in and it was Lebo again who added on to it's lead on a man-up advantage when Relich assisted Donnally who, once again, was completely uncovered in the heart of the Sewickley defense and finished off an effortless goal for an 11-7 lead.
One minute later, Fourazon found Relich who dumped his shot directly over the keeper's head for his first of two fourth quarter goals. With a scoreline of 12-7 and a comfortable lead, Lebo wanted more. And Graham took it upon himself to lead by example with another goal and a seemingly insurmountable 13-7 lead.
But Sewickley, despite not playing its best half of lacrosse, wasn't through just yet. Brown finally got the Panthers its first goal in over 15 minutes to cut the lead to 13-8 with just under six minutes remaining. And five goals in six minutes in lacrosse is the furthest thing from an improbability.
However, it's pretty tough to mount a comeback when the opposition's offense continues to fire on all cylinders. Graham drove to his right from behind the cage, threw an impeccable fake and bounced a right-handed shot into the back of the net to regain the six-score margin. And with 2:21 remaining, Lebo finished off the hosts for good when Fourazon picked out Relich for a clinical finish in the upper corner of the net for a 15-8 final score.
Despite the last minute of play turning physical and extremely sloppy, Lebo goalie Riley Kirkland was called into action with a nice save to solidify the seven-goal margin of victory.
Sewickley Academy (4-1, 12-2) will resume section play on Wednesday when it travels to Pittsburgh Central Catholic (2-3, 8-6), a must win game for the Vikings if it has any intentions of competing in postseason play.
Mt. Lebanon (5-0, 10-3) hosts playoff-bound Upper St. Clair (4-1, 8-4) on Wednesday for senior night presumably.
WEDNESDAY FINALS
Division I South
Bethel Park 8, Pittsburgh Central Catholic 7 (OT)
Mt. Lebanon 15, Sewickley Academy 8
Upper St. Clair 8, Peters Township 7 (3OT)
Division I North
North Allegheny 16, Seneca Valley 7
Division II South
Baldwin 12, Quaker Valley 5
Chartiers Valley 12, Seton LaSalle 3
Division II North
Hampton 16, Cathedral Prep 10
Erie-McDowell 10, Vincentian Academy 0
Butler 10, North Hills 6
Non-section
Fox Chapel 14, Taylor Allderdice 3
Pine Richland 20, Trinity 1
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