The North Allegheny Boys’ Lacrosse team opened the long-awaited 2025 season this past Tuesday against the best in the league, the Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils, who won the WPIAL title last year. In a hard-fought loss, 7-6, the Tigers nevertheless demonstrated that they are a force to be reckoned with this year.
The boys have high hopes coming into the new season.
“We are as ready as we can be to start the season off strong” said senior captain Logan Lyle. “Our goal this year is to bring back home the WPIAL Championship.”
Last season had a tough start, with losses in the first five games. But the Tigers rebounded well, as they went 12-1 the rest of the season to finish off with an overall 12-6 record. This record was good enough to get them the four seed in the playoffs.
In the quarterfinals, they took care of business, defeating Pine-Richland with ease. In the semifinal round, the competition was tougher, as they had to play one seed Shady Side Academy, a perennial powerhouse. Earlier in the regular season, NA took a hard loss to Shady Side.
But in the WPIAL semifinal round, the Tigers got their revenge, taking down the Bulldogs and securing their spot in not just the WPIAL championship but the PIAA playoffs as well.
The boys ended up losing to Mt. Lebanon, but the season was not over yet. In the PIAA first round, NA pulled off an overtime win against Wilson. But the excitement did not last much longer, the eventual state champions, Radnor, dominated in the quarterfinal round.
Regardless, team morale remained high through the offseason. Key players Kaden Brown (a Point Park commit), Logan Lyle (a St. Johns Commit), and Colman Craft (a Hobart Commit), in addition to a squad that boasts depth and athletic talent, show great promise for the new season.
“I expect big things this year,” Brown said. “We have a really strong defense that will hopefully scare every team that comes to play us.”
On Tuesday, the Tigers faced the Blue Devils in a rematch from last year’s WPIAL championship. By halftime, the score was 4-0 in favor of Mt. Lebanon.
But the second half proved what the Tigers are capable of, as they scored two goals to start the third quarter. Lebo bounced back to end the third quarter by scoring two more.
Down 6-2 in the final quarter, NA scored four straight goals to tie up the game with just over three minutes left in the game. But with 17 seconds remaining, Mt. Lebanon scored the final goal to claim the win.
“It was a hard way to lose the game after we fought so hard to climb our way back,” said Craft. “This is only the beginning of a long season. We now understand what a loss feels like, so now we are ready to prevent having that feeling anymore.”
The Tigers are back in action tonight against Norwin in the home opener at Newman Stadium.
