Not a lot of lacrosse action last night but the four games that did go on certainly were entertaining ones. Seneca Valley continued its rise in D-I North while Fox Chapel just can't quite find a way to beat D-II teams. Here's a rundown of all the match-ups from Thursday and a brief look at the Friday night fixtures.
Seneca Valley 13, Pine Richland 10
Having been under the radar for most of the year, with last night's win Seneca Valley has moved into sole possession of first place in the North section of Division I.
Since its four game non-section skid in early April, the Raiders have won four of its last five including section victories over Shady Side Academy, 9-3, and last night at Pine Richland, 13-10. And now that the Raiders are sitting pretty at 3-0 in the D-I North with only two section games remaining, SV has already clinched a playoff spot and will secure a first-round home game with a win over North Allegheny or Franklin Regional.
Pine Richland on the other hand has very little control over its postseason destiny. First, the Rams must beat North Allegheny on the road to close out the season and finish with a 2-3 section record. Since PR lost last week in double overtime to Shady Side Academy (thus giving SSA the head-to-head advantage), the Rams need the Indians to lose to both North Allegheny and Fox Chapel in order to leapfrog them in the section standings.
The Rams final section game against NA may not be until May 11 but it has plenty of upcoming fixtures to prepare for the big one. The Rams will look to end its four-game losing streak tonight with a non-section trip up Route 8 to Butler (4-1, 6-4). Butler stunned PR at home last season with a 7-6 win.
Seneca Valley sure has its hands full this weekend when the Raiders head west to Ohio to take on the state's third-ranked team Hudson (10-1) tonight and Hoover/No. Canton (6-3) on Saturday.
Pittsburgh Central Catholic 20, Baldwin 8
After suffering losses to Mt. Lebanon and North Alleghney, Pittsburgh Central Catholic returned to its winning ways and high scoring affairs with a 20-8 non-section win at home over Baldwin last night.
Prior to the Vikings back-to-back losses, the offense had scored 70 goals in its last four games averaging 17.5 scores a night. But PCC was held to under ten goals in both losses and defensively had surrendered 38 to the two D-I sides. But against Baldwin, it all came together. The Vikings put up 20 goals for the fourth time this season, the most of any WPIAL team. And eight goals against was the most allowed during any of the Vikings six wins. In fact, when the Vikings are victorious the defense on average allows less than four goals per game.
As for Baldwin, the offense has been solid all season but the Highlanders are susceptible to surrendering a hefty amount of goals. In the last five games, Baldwin has given up 70 scores having allowed only 23 in its first six games. However, the Highlanders are 7-0 when the offense scores 10 or more.
Baldwin (4-2, 8-3) has a handful of non-section games until its crucial section match-up against Quaker Valley on Wednesday. But first, the Highlanders play Erie McDowell (4-2, 4-7) and Wheeling Central Catholic (4-11) on Saturday.
Pittsburgh Central Catholic (2-2, 6-5) heads out to Latrobe (0-4, 0-7) on Saturday for what should be an easy non-section victory.
Erie McDowell 9, Shaler 8
What might have seemed like a relatively unimportant section match-up heading in, truly proved to be anything but. And final score aside, a lot was riding on this one game. With the win last night, Erie McDowell took another step towards earning an early playoff birth. As for Shaler with only two section games remaining and currently sitting on a 1-4 record in the D-II North, a postseason push might just be out of reach this season.
The 9-8 win gave the Trojans its first back-to-back wins on the year and both just so happened to be in the section. And the Trojans will look to make it three and four in a row when it takes on Baldwin and Toledo St. John's on Saturday.
It's been a frustrating season for Shaler (1-4, 1-9) who has now lost three section games by two goals or less. The Titans go back to work on Monday with a non-section match-up against Seton LaSalle (2-4, 4-6).
Hampton 14, Fox Chapel 4
It took eleven games but Hampton has finally beaten a non-section opponent. The Talbots, who remaining undefeated in section play, also finally returned to a .500 overall record with the 14-4 win over Fox Chapel. As for Fox Chapel, this loss was its third consecutive loss to a D-II team.
Both teams have had some major ups and downs this year. Despite currently sitting pretty atop the North section of D-II, Hampton has been dealt a handful of heartbreakers having lost three games by a single goal. As for Fox Chapel, after back-to-back wins over North Hills and Bethel Park, the Foxes have lost five straight and three straight to lower tier teams.
But both sides will say the past is the past and its time to look ahead and not dwell on the "what could have been." The Talbots (5-0, 6-6) can now set its sights on gunning down the top team in D-II, Greensburg Central Catholic (5-0, 8-3), at home on Monday. The Talbots offense has been impressive as of late with almost 50 goals in three games, and it'll certainly need to be in full swing against the Centurions who typically put up big numbers and defensively have surrendered ten goals or more only once. Hampton beat GCC twice last season (once in the playoffs) and won the D-II championship against the Centurions in 2009, 13-9.
Fox Chapel (0-4, 4-9) will hope to put an end to its losing streak when it hosts Upper St. Clair (3-1, 6-4) on Tuesday in a non-section showdown. The Panthers were victorious at home last season over the Foxes, 12-2.
Section
Quaker Valley (4-2, 6-2) @ Winchester Thurston (1-2, 2-2)
Taylor Allderdice (0-4, 1-8) @ Indiana (1-4, 4-4)
Non-section
Seneca Valley (3-0, 6-5) @ Hudson (10-1)
Toledo St. John's (1-7) @ Cathedral Prep (5-2, 5-7)
Bethel Park (1-4, 4-8) @ Chartiers Valley (5-1, 10-3)
Pine Richland (1-3, 5-6) @ Butler (4-1, 6-4)
Seton LaSalle (2-4, 4-6) @ Vincentian Academy (0-3, 1-7)
MSLCA
Dublin Scioto (4-7) @ Shady Side Academy (1-2, 4-5)
No comments:
Post a Comment