Laxburgh broke down the Division II match-ups on Monday and for today, an in-depth look into the Division I final four on Wednesday at Chartiers Valley High School. Sewickley and NA rematch from early in the season while the division top-dog, Mt. Lebo takes on Seneca Valley for the first time this year. Will Sewickley repeat from last season's title and can the Raiders knock the Blue Devils from its perch? We'll have to wait and see tomorrow night but until then, here's a glance at both games.
Mt. Lebanon (7-0, 14-3) v. Seneca Valley (4-1. 8-8)
Despite not having played each other this season, both Mt. Lebanon and Seneca Valley are very familiar with one another. Last season, the Raiders accomplished an admirable and extremely rare feat by beating the Blue Devils twice. The first was early on at Seneca where the Blue Devils lost by one. And when both sides met again in the state playoffs it was Seneca that advanced on with an 8-5 win. Needless to say, the Blue Devils will be out for blood on Wednesday.
Mt. Lebanon has been nothing shy of a dominant force and has not lost to an instate team all season. Against WPIAL teams, the Lebo offense averages almost 16 goals per game and was never contained to under ten scores. The Blue Devils arsenal is deep, athletic and can put up goals in bunches with ease. Having watched Lebo once this season, it's apparent to see why the Blue Devils took the regular season South section title.
In Lebo's last two games, against local rivals Upper St. Clair and Peters Township, the Blue Devils outscored both sides by a 26-9 total. And that's truly been the story of Lebo's season, win big. Aside from a slender 14-12 win over D-I North regular season section champion North Allegheny and a few MSLCA match-ups, a six-goal margin of victory was the narrowest and that was last week in the first round of the playoff against Peters Township. This was the second time Lebo played Peters, the first being in the middle of the year when the Blue Devils put up a season-best 20 goals en route to a 20-11 section win. Defensively, surrendering 11 goals against Peters was the second-most allowed against WPIAL clubs all year.
Seneca Valley might not be the flashiest team in the league but it's certainly been heating up as the season went on. After a 2-4 start, the Raiders picked up a crucial 9-3 win against Shady Side Academy before getting beat by Philadelphia powerhouse Manheim Township, 15-8. Seneca bounced back nicely with three-straight wins including a 13-10 victory at section rival Pine Richland. The Raiders responded to the three consecutive wins with three consecutive losses, the third being a 16-7 thrashing from North Allegheny. After SV's first section loss, a win at Franklin Regional would guarantee second place in the section and a first round playoff game at home. The Panthers had not been a team to be taken lightly all season but a solid SV performance elevated the visitors in overtime by a 13-12 scoreline. The win forced Upper St. Clair to make the trek out to SV where the Raiders eased by the USC juggernaut, 13-5.
For as many games as the Raiders have put up big offensive numbers, the defensive unit has surrendered ten goals or more plenty of times. If Seneca wants to pull off the upset, the defense can't let Lebo hit it's momentous rhythm. On the other end, Lebo has been susceptible to giving up a decent number of scores. This game has the potential to be the high scoring shootout of the season.
North Allegheny (6-0, 14-3) v. Sewickley Academy (5-1, 14-4)
This highly anticipated rematch from earlier in the year should be nothing short of a beautiful slugfest.
In mid-April, Sewickley hosted and beat the NA army 15-13. Since that non-section loss, the Tigers have gone 10-0 and never once offensively scored less than double digits. The Tigers attack has averaged 16 goals per game during the stretch and allowed ten or more goals only once. And the win streak wasn't exactly against the league's weakest opposition. The Tigers have pummeled Pittsburgh Central Catholic, 20-8; Hampton, 19-9; at Upper St. Clair, 18-4; and Bethel Park, 17-4. And in the first round of the playoffs, NA cruised by Shady Side Academy, 20-7.
Sewickley has posted some pretty impressive wins as well including three overtime road victories. The first being against Upper St. Clair, 10-9, where the Panthers surged from behind late in the fourth to tie it up and eventually pull out the sudden death win. Sewickley also won in OT at Peters Township, 9-8. and Pittsburgh Central Catholic, 6-5. Obviously, Sewickley plays its games a bit closer and more stressful than the Tigers do.
The Panthers started the season 12-0 and averaged over 11 goals per game and defensively allowed on average just over five goals per game. The win streak came to a screeching halt with four-straight losses including a 15-8 section loss at home to longtime rival Mt. Lebanon. But the Panthers put an end to the winless streak with the OT win over PCC followed by its first round victory over Franklin Regional, 16-10. But the offense just hasn't been the same since the 12-0, having averaged only eight goals per game and defensively on average allowed almost 12 goals over the team's most recent six game stretch.
Towson-bound senior attackman Ed Lally has rewritten the offensive record books at Sewickley but Lally has plenty of talent surrounding him including senior Rob Kendall. As for NA, keep an eye on scorers Anthony Peluso, Dan Wiese and Ryan Worsena.
No comments:
Post a Comment