North Allegheny’s boys lacrosse team began the season with five consecutive losses.
Since April 5, they’ve won six of their last seven, but according to coach John Rullan, they still have yet to play a full 48 minutes.
"We weren’t putting that full four quarters together,” Rullan said. "We always had one quarter where we kind of lapsed
The Tigers opened the season with an 15-14 double overtime loss to Upper St. Clair, the same school that ended the Tigers’ season last year in the WPIAL quarterfinals.
Two of their next four games were against opponents from Ohio (Spire Academy) and Kentucky (St. Xavier) while another was against Section 2-3A leader Shady Side Academy.
North Allegheny scored less than eight goals in each contest.
"The first two games could have easily gone our way,” Rullan said. "We didn’t show up in the other games.”
The Tigers won’t use it as an excuse, but they lost a strong group of productive seniors from last year’s team.
Long stickman Marco Pascarella finished his career by making the all-WPIAL team, was a two-time all-section selection, and was a USA Lacrosse All-American, in addition to winning a WPIAL championship in 2021.
He led the Tigers in ground balls (79) and had 11 goals and nine assists his senior year and is currently a midfielder at the University of Utah.
Also gone is leading scorer and all-section attackman Marc Bartolomucci (41 goals and 17 assists), who is playing Division II at Saint Leo in Florida.
All-section midfielder Christian Tedder, who had 21 goals and 15 assists, and all-section standout defenseman Matt Miller also graduated.
Even with the losses, Rullan said expectations were still high.
"I’m not going to say the expectations weren’t high because we always have those high expectations of the kids,” he said.
The Tigers have relied on a relatively young roster, and Rullan said his choice of captains have stepped up to lead that young nucleus.
"These captains are solid leaders,” Rullan said. "It’s nice to see we have three kids who are really strong in their leadership. They help make the coach’s job a lot easier.”
Senior midfielder Evan Lyon, who also played football for North Allegheny, leads the team with 32 goals and has 12 assists. He will attend Rochester School of Technology in the fall and continue his lacrosse career.
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Junior goalie Logan Lyle has been a solid performer in net and Rullan mentioned he has the skills to play Division I lacrosse once he graduates.
Junior defenseman Colton Craft is also being recruited and plays a smart, defensive game.
With those returning starters, Rullan knew what he had in leadership and what they could bring to the field.
As for how the rest of the team would perform, it’s taken nearly the whole year, but the Tigers have found something.
"At the start, we weren’t sure what we really had,” Rullan said. "But as the season’s gone on, we have a couple of kids that are really contributing.”
A trio of sophomores have provided a much-needed boost to the offense.
Attackman Nick Sichak (26 goals, 17 assists) dictates the offense, and fellow attackman Johnny Castillo (21 goals, 6 assists) is third on the team in goals.
Sophomore faceoff specialist Luke Rohan returns after a stellar freshman year where he won 126 of 232 faceoffs (54.3%).
Defensively, Coach Rullan has a group that plays the same way, with a high lacrosse IQ. Senior Aidan Rabenstein leads the talented group.
"He has sort of slips through the cracks his whole high school career,” Rullan said. "He is our hardest working defenseman.”
The Tigers rattled off four straight wins in the middle of the season and have won six of their last seven with an average of 12.7 goals a game during that stretch. Their only loss was a nonsection defeat to The Kiski School.
The streak has jumped North Allegheny into second in Section 2-3A with a 3-1 section record and a 6-6 record overall.
But even with the hot streak they’ve been on, Coach Rullan still has yet to see his players give that full 48-minute effort.
"It’s not that the players aren’t working,” Rullan said. "It’s just that it seems we can’t get things to fall into place where we get four full quarters. That’s the goal right now.”
With four games remaining, three against section opponents looking up at the Tigers in the standings, North Allegheny can’t afford too much inconsistent play.
Two of those opponents are Butler and Seneca Valley. Butler is right behind North Allegheny in the Section 2-3A standings and Seneca Valley is in last place, but Rullan won’t take any team for granted.
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"It’s pretty even throughout the section,” Rullan said. "On any given night, any team can beat another.”
There is still much more to be shored up before the playoffs, and the Tigers want to make sure they don’t leave the same bad taste in their mouths at the end of this year like they did last season.
"This group had a feeling that we didn’t finish last year and, in their minds, they want to be a group that finishes, but that has yet to be seen,” Rullan said.
"I want my players to experience the taste of winning, to know that their hard work is paying off.”
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