Last-minute comeback fall short for Sewickley Academy boys lacrosse team
If anything can be gained from last Wednesday's 6-5 loss for the Sewickley Academy Panthers, it's these two things: opponents had better play for 48 minutes and Rob Kendall should never be overlooked.
Kendall, the senior attack who will play next season at Dickinson College in Carlisle, fueled a furious fourth-quarter comeback with two goals in a 6-5 victory for Mt. Lebanon High at the Blue Devils' stadium. Following a 14-5 non-section victory over Franklin Regional, the Panthers are 10-4 overall and are in a second-place tie with Upper St. Clair in the WPIAL's Division 1, Section 1 with 4-1 records. Mt. Lebanon, 9-3 overall, has a showdown at Upper St. Clair on Wednesday to close out the regular season and leads the section with a 5-0 record.
Sewickley Academy coach Tim Hastings marveled at Kendall's ability to finally break away from the withering defense provided by the Blue Devils' Dylan White to score two goals in less than 90 seconds to cut the Blue Devils' lead to 6-4. Another goal by Charlie Carbeau cut the deficit to one goal with 18 seconds left in the game, but Mt. Lebanon secured the victory when the Blue Devils' defense knocked the ball away from Kendall as he was making a desperate midfield sprint in the game's waning seconds.
"We did (run out of time)," Hastings said. "Rob's a great player, but Dylan (White) played a fabulous game. Both kids played well. We finally broke through in the fourth quarter, but we spotted them too many goals in the fourth quarter."
The Blue Devils knocked the Panthers back on their heels by racing to a 4-0 lead as sophomore Louis Lucerne scored two of his game-high three goals, while White and Chris O'Dell added single tallies for the Blue Devils.
Sewickley Academy held Mt. Lebanon scoreless in the second quarter and cut the deficit to 4-1 on a goal by C.R. Hrycenko.
Sewickley Academy continued a trend where it has scored most of its points in the final quarter of it past three games. In an 8-3 victory over Dublin Scioto, the Panthers scored five goals. In an 11-5 loss to Worthington Kilbourne, the Panthers scored four goals leading up to the one-goal loss to Mt. Lebanon where the Panthers scored three goals.
"Thankfully, our defense played really well where we were able to make that charge in the fourth quarter," he said. "But we do have a fairly inexperienced team, and we've been getting better as the season's been going on. But this team matured (last Wednesday night). They really stepped up in a pressure situation, and we gave (the Blue Devils) a scare."
Sewickley Academy closes out the regular season on Monday and Wednesday against Greensburg Central Catholic and Central Catholic.
Kendall, the senior attack who will play next season at Dickinson College in Carlisle, fueled a furious fourth-quarter comeback with two goals in a 6-5 victory for Mt. Lebanon High at the Blue Devils' stadium. Following a 14-5 non-section victory over Franklin Regional, the Panthers are 10-4 overall and are in a second-place tie with Upper St. Clair in the WPIAL's Division 1, Section 1 with 4-1 records. Mt. Lebanon, 9-3 overall, has a showdown at Upper St. Clair on Wednesday to close out the regular season and leads the section with a 5-0 record.
Sewickley Academy coach Tim Hastings marveled at Kendall's ability to finally break away from the withering defense provided by the Blue Devils' Dylan White to score two goals in less than 90 seconds to cut the Blue Devils' lead to 6-4. Another goal by Charlie Carbeau cut the deficit to one goal with 18 seconds left in the game, but Mt. Lebanon secured the victory when the Blue Devils' defense knocked the ball away from Kendall as he was making a desperate midfield sprint in the game's waning seconds.
"We did (run out of time)," Hastings said. "Rob's a great player, but Dylan (White) played a fabulous game. Both kids played well. We finally broke through in the fourth quarter, but we spotted them too many goals in the fourth quarter."
The Blue Devils knocked the Panthers back on their heels by racing to a 4-0 lead as sophomore Louis Lucerne scored two of his game-high three goals, while White and Chris O'Dell added single tallies for the Blue Devils.
Sewickley Academy held Mt. Lebanon scoreless in the second quarter and cut the deficit to 4-1 on a goal by C.R. Hrycenko.
Sewickley Academy continued a trend where it has scored most of its points in the final quarter of it past three games. In an 8-3 victory over Dublin Scioto, the Panthers scored five goals. In an 11-5 loss to Worthington Kilbourne, the Panthers scored four goals leading up to the one-goal loss to Mt. Lebanon where the Panthers scored three goals.
"Thankfully, our defense played really well where we were able to make that charge in the fourth quarter," he said. "But we do have a fairly inexperienced team, and we've been getting better as the season's been going on. But this team matured (last Wednesday night). They really stepped up in a pressure situation, and we gave (the Blue Devils) a scare."
Sewickley Academy closes out the regular season on Monday and Wednesday against Greensburg Central Catholic and Central Catholic.
lacrosse