Monday Games

Section


Cathderal Prep @ Erie McDowell
The battle for Erie supremacy will be in full force tonight when Cathedral Prep travels to Erie McDowell for the first of two meetings this season. The recent rivalry, however, has been a bit one-sided. The Trojans have not beaten Prep since 2008 and have lost the last four straight, one of which was an overtime loss at home last season, 6-5.
McDowell's only wins have been in the section but have dropped two straight to non-section central-PA opposition. After the Trojans (2-2, 2-6) beat Indiana (1-2, 4-2) by a score of 11-4, McDowell was tripped up by State College (4-3), 6-3, and Bishop Shanahan (5-1), 10-2.
Prep (4-0, 4-4) has dropped two straight to consecutive New York teams after an emotional last-minute section road win at North Hills, 9-8. The Ramblers were downed by McQuaid Jesuit (2-3), 11-5, and St. Joseph Collegiate (5-4), 11-6. Prep and McDowell will face off one more time this season when the Trojans travel to Prep on May 11.

Non-section


St. Joseph Collegiate (NY) @ Bethel Park
Bethel Park has been a pretty streaky team this season. After opening the 2011 campaign with two wins over quality D-II opposition, the Blackhawks dropped five-straight including two key section games. During said skid, Bethel couldn't muster up more than five goals a game and on average allowed almost 12 goals per game. The Hawks finally put an end to the winless streak with a huge section win at Trinity last week, blanking the Hillers 15-0. And just when it seemed like the Hawks had begun to turn the season around, in stormed D-II powerhouse Greensburg Central Catholic and stunned the host Hawks, 12-9.
Bethel (1-2, 3-6) has a chance to even up it's section record this week when it plays host to Peters Township (0-2, 7-3) on Wednesday. Until then, the Hawks have an interesting non-section test ahead of them this evening against New York's St. Joseph Collegiate (5-4). This will be St. Joseph's third game against a WPIAL-side this season having beat Erie McDowell early in the season, 8-3, and Cathedral Prep on Saturday, 11-6. The Marauders also travel to Seneca Valley (2-0, 3-5) on Thursday night.


Fox Chapel @ Butler
After a shaky 1-4 start, last season's D-II champions are once again playing like champions. The Tornadoes have outscored its last three opponents 40 to 9 including back-to-back 16-goal outings. Of the three wins, two were in the section and one was a gritty, hard-fought road victory over Shaler (0-3, 0-6), 8-7. It might not have been the prettiest game, but any coach will tell you they'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day.
Now Butler (3-1, 4-4) will focus on possibly picking up it's first non-section win over a D-I opponent since last season when the Tornadoes slayed five of seven D-I giants. One of which was an enormous 16-7 victory at Fox Chapel.
The Foxes (0-4, 4-6), who can't seem to find a win against D-I teams, have fared well against D-II sides this season. Fox Chapel beat North Hills (2-1, 3-5) last Monday, 9-4, along with Latrobe (0-3, 0-6) a few weeks ago, 16-3, and it opened the year with a 10-3 win over Shaler. Since it's win over the Indians, the Foxes have lost two-straight at North Allegheny (2-0, 4-3), 14-3, and at Pittsburgh Central Catholic (2-1, 4-3), 14-5.


North Allegheny @ Hampton
North Allegheny's 4-3 overall record might not be anything to marvel at, but the Tigers are without a doubt one of the top teams in Division I. NA is top of the table and undefeated in D-I Section II play and have scored 28 goals in it's only two section outings. The Tigers next section match-up isn't for over a week but NA will look to pick up a tough non-section road win tonight when it travels to Hampton for a very interesting fixture.
The Tigers (2-0, 4-3) have only lost to the region's best. In late March, NA lost a tough one to Mt. Lebanon (2-0, 7-3), 14-12, and on Friday the Tigers traveled to Sewickley Academy (2-0, 8-0) and lost another two-goal struggle, 15-13. The Tigers have yet to be held to under 10-goals a game and the one time NA was held to 10 was against Laxpower's third-best team in Ohio, Hudson (7-0) by a 13-10 final.
Hampton (2-0, 2-4) knows plenty about tough losses. Last season's D-II runner-up has an untarnished section record but in its four defeats, three have been by a single goal and the other loss was a three-goal loss at home to Upper St. Clair (2-1, 4-4). On Friday, Peters Township (0-2, 7-3) slipped by the visiting Talbots by an 8-7 scoreline. Hampton did topple the Tigers last season when the Talbot offense shined for an 18-8 drumming at NA.

Pine Richland @ Upper St. Clair
After a 4-0 start to the season, Upper St. Clair has lost four-straight and will look to end the streak tonight at home against a surging Pine Richland team. And unfortunately for the Panthers, the PR offense is on an absolute tear with 36 goals in its last two games. On the other side of the field, the Rams defense has been nothing short of stellar, having kept a clean score sheet in its last two outings as well.
Pine Richland (1-1, 5-2) recently rolled through Taylor Allderdice (0-3, 1-7), 17-0, and at Trinity (0-3, 1-6), 19-0. But it took some time to get the offense playing as consistently well as it has. Before the consecutive wins, the Rams were beaten by Peters Township (0-2, 7-3), 6-5, and opened up section play with an 8-5 loss at home to section rival Franklin Regional (3-1, 4-7).
Upper St. Clair (2-1, 4-4) has only played one WPIAL-side during the four-game skid having lost to Sewickley Academy (2-0, 8-0) at home in overtime last week, 10-9. The other losses came against Ohio's Massilon-Jackson (8-2) in overtime, 9-8; Hempfield (12-0), 15-2; and New York's Orchard Park (6-1), 16-9. The Panthers have won the last two meetings over PR including a 6-5 win on the road last season.

Shaler @ Chartiers Valley
This game has all the makings of a potential trap game for Chartiers Valley. On Thursday, the Colts host unbeaten Baldwin for a crucial D-II Section I game. But tonight, CV hosts winless Shaler and certainly shouldn't look past this group of struggling Titans.
Chartiers Valley (3-1, 6-3) is definitely a candidate for the D-II crown but must put its two recent losses behind them. One of which was at section rival Greensburg Central Catholic (4-0, 7-1) where the home-side prevailed with a 10-4 score. And on Saturday, the Colts were beat by Peters Township (0-2, 7-3) on the road, 7-4. Before the losses, however, CV had won six-straight and outscored the opposition 72 to 23.
Shaler (0-3, 0-6) still seeks that coveted first win of the year but it's definitely getting closer and closer. After being outscored 38 to 6 through it's first three games, the Titans have lost it's last three by a combined total of only seven goals. The most recent loss having been at home to Butler (3-1, 4-4) by a single goal, 8-7. Shaler lost to D-I power Franklin Regional only by four scores and fell by two to unbeaten in the section Cathedral Prep (4-0, 4-4), 8-6.
The Colts have won the last four-straight meetings between the two sides, dating back to 2006.


Knoch @ Pittsburgh Central Catholic
For as many great games are there are today, there's a good chance this won't be one of them. Knoch, an independent team and a newcomer to the high school lacrosse scene, will certainly have its hands full with a proven program in Pittsburgh Central Catholic.
Pittsburgh Central Catholic (2-1, 4-3) has won three-straight and has outscored it's opponents 49 to 9 during the three-game stretch. After it's 20-0 thrashing of Trinity (0-3, 1-6) at home, the Vikings have knocked off Fox Chapel (0-4, 4-6), 14-5, and Peters Township (0-2, 7-3) on the road, 15-4. Even though Knoch might not be the quality opposition of a Fox Chapel or Peters Township, PCC shouldn't be looking ahead to it's gigantic section game on Wednesday when it plays host to Mt. Lebanon (2-0, 7-3).
Knoch, who has already tied its win total from last season with one, will be playing its first D-I oppositions in its team's short history. Last season, Knoch lone win came in overtime against former WPSLA-side Morgantown in West Virginia, 10-9. This season, the Knights started out 0-2 but picked up the first win last Monday at home against Vincentian Academy (0-2, 1-6), 5-4.