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MURPHY'S GOAL HOLDS UP AS LADY TIGERS EDGE SHALER, 1-0, IN
SECTION OPENER

Senior Dawn Murphy scored in the ninth minute and the NA defense, along with junior GK Rachel Middleman, held off Shaler for the remainder of the game as the Lady Tigers downed the Titans, 1-0, in the section opener at Shaler on Thursday night.  The Titans threatened in the final minutes but NA held on for the victory.

Early in the game, the Lady Tigers had a chance when senior Alexis Smith sent a cross just past a breaking junior Savanna Kelly  4:40 into the contest.  At the 5:48 mark, Middleman had to punch out a corner that was cleared by the NA defense.  At the 8:05 mark, Smith sent the ball down the side to the corner to senior Molly Antimarino who then crossed it to Murphy for the goal that gave NA a 1-0 advantage.  Shaler came back with a chance less than a minute later but the ball landed on the outside of the Tiger net.  The Titans had an opportunity off a corner at the 12:50 mark, but once again it was cleared by the NA defense.  Five minutes later, Antimarino sent a cross into the box from the deep corner, but the Shaler keeper was able to pull the ball out of the air.  At the 18:55 mark, junior Kylie Fuller had another chance that was stopped by the Titan keeper.  Less than a minute later, junior Taylor Gapczynski sent a corner kick into the box but again it was cleared.  Near the midway point of the half, Murphy drove a hard shot that was stopped.  In the next four minutes, both teams had corner kicks that were not converted.  With 13:42 remaining, Shaler earned yet another corner but the NA defense was there to clear the ball.  With 8:17 left on the first half clock, the Titans mustered a strong attack, but their shot went just wide of the NA net.  With 4:26 left, Middleman had to make a great save to preserve the one goal advantage.  With just 1:25 remaining, junior Larissa Steeb sent Murphy into the attacking zone when she set up Fuller, but her shot hit the top post.  Thanks to good defense by Steeb, sophomore Christina Boada and junior Margaret Nikituk, the Lady Tigers were able to keep Shaler off the board as they took a 1-0 lead to the intermission.

Shaler came out physical early in the second half and were called for a pair of fouls that led to NA scoring opportunities.  Steeb and Gapczynski set balls toward the Titan net, but the Shaler defense was able to stymie the Tiger attack.  Middleman had to make another good save at the five minute mark to keep Shaler at bay.  In the ninth minute, it appeared that NA had scored off a corner kick by Gapczynski, but the referees ruled that the ball had not crossed the goal line into the net.  Junior Chelsea Henderson came off the NA bench to make some strong run along the left sideline.  Just past the midway point of the half, Middleman came up big again with a tough save to preserve the 1-0 lead.  The NA midfield and defenders continued to set up Antimarino along the right side to try to create offense.  With 10:04 left, Fuller missed just wide of the Shaler net.  With 5:15 remaining, Fuller sent a cross to sophomore Maria Snyder who sent a shot just over the Shaler net.  With five minutes left, freshmen Katie Hohmann, Brianna Layman and Calene Dougherty all entered the game for the Lady Tigers.  With 4:24 left, Hohmann had  chance but was stopped by the Shaler GK.  One minute later, Layman sent a shot just over the goal.  With the one goal, the NA defense was able to keep some last minute Shaler chances off the board as the Lady Tigers went on to the 1-0 victory.

With the win, NA moved their section record to 1-0, the overall mark to 3-0 in the early season.  The Lady Tigers will host Pine-Richland on Monday night at Newman Stadium as section play continues.  The North Allegheny Sports Network will be there to broadcast the game LIVE on the internet beginning with the pre-game show at 7:15 pm.  Game time is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

JV UPDATE:  The JV team controlled play for most of the game on their way to a 4-0 victory over Shaler.  Goals were scored by Katie Hohmann (2), Calene Dougherty, and Christine Grom.

(Thanks again to Claudia Steeb for the information in this report!)

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY - 1  SHALER - 0

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

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LADY TIGERS DOMINATE WOODLAND HILLS, 9-0

Seven different players scored goals as NA controlled play against Woodland Hills on Saturday morning in a 9-0 shutout of the Wolverines.  Seniors Alexis Smith and Molly Antimarino had a pair of goals each as NA built a 5-0 halftime lead and coasted as Coach Chet Gapczynski used his bench liberally throughout the contest.

Once again, the Lady Tigers came out ready to play as they scored just two minutes into the game.  Smith passed to senior Dawn Murphy who put the ball past the Woodland Hills keeper into the net to give NA a 1-0 lead.  After junior Kylie Fuller just missed, junior Larissa Steeb sent a ball up the middle where Smith took the pass and raced passed the WH defense and scored from 20 yards out to make it a 2-0 game.  In the 12th minute, junior Savanna Kelly set up Smith but her shot was stopped by the Woodland Hills keeper.  In the 17th minute, Fuller scored her team leading fifth goal on an assist from Smith as NA took a 3-0 advantage.   Three minutes later, Antimarino recorded her first goal after taking a pass from Fuller as the lead went to 4-0.  After a water break, Coach Gapczynski sent in the JV team to replace the varsity.  In the 30th minute, freshman Katie Hohmann passed sophomore Maria Snyder who tapped it in from in front of the net to increase the NA lead to 5-0.  Five minutes later, freshman Brianna Layman just missed the net after taking a pass from Hohmann.  In the 37th minute, a shot by Snyder went right to the keeper.  The teams went to the intermission with the Lady Tigers holding a commanding 5-0 advantage.

In the second half, NA rotated the lineup allowing players to play different positions.  All three NA goalkeepers were field players as junior Taylor Gapczynski stepped into the net.  In the fifth minute, freshman Alison Krause crossed a header to freshman Annie Erickson who just missed the goal.  In the tenth minute, freshman Carolyn Binnig sent a shot just wide.  In the 15th minute, senior Ava Makal sent a ball over the net after taking a pass from Krause.  Two minutes later, junior Rachel Middleman scored after receiving a pass from Makal as the score went to 6-0.  After a water break in the 20th minute, the varsity returned with Leanna Noel in goal.  In the next two minutes, shots by Smith and Fuller were stopped by the WH keeper.  In the 23rd minute, Kelly had a chance but missed the net.  Two minutes later, Gapczynski's attempt was pulled out of the air by the keeper.  In the 27th minute, Antimarino sent a shot wide of the net, but got another chance just seconds later and scored on a cross from Smith giving NA a 7-0 lead.  One minute later, Fuller's attempt was caught by the Woody High goalkeeper.  In the 30th minute, Gapczynski took the ball at midfield and raced in to blast a shot in the corner of the net to increase the advantage to 8-0.  In the 33rd minute, Antimarino's attempt went over the goal.  Smith put the finishing touches on the victory with a goal on a pass from senior Kelly Gilmour.  A minute later after a foul on WH at midfield, Steeb drove a long ball into the box that the keeper was able to stop after a bounce.  Fuller had a final shot that was stopped by the keeper as the Lady Tigers prevailed, 9-0.

Coach Gapczynski was able to use the opportunity against an overmatched opponent to allow his team to work on skills and drills in a game situation.  The entire team contributed to the victory as they prepared for the upcoming section schedule.  With the win, the Lady Tigers improved to 2-0 in non-section games in the early season.  NA will open section play of Thursday night when they travel to Shaler.  Game time is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY - 9  WOODLAND HILLS - 0

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

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FULLER SCORES FOUR TO LEAD LADY TIGERS
OVER KISKI AREA, 7-1

Junior Kylie Fuller tallied four goals to lead the Lady Tigers to an impressive 7-1 victory at Kiski Area on Friday afternoon.  Senior Alexis Smith, junior Taylor Gapczynski, and senior Mollie Antimarino also scored for NA in the season opener.  The game was stopped early because of an injury to sophomore Nicole Goldstein who was taken from the field in an ambulance.  We do not have any specific information about the injury.

The Lady Tigers came out with a strong attack backed up by a tough defense in the season opener.  Smith got NA on the board first in the seventh minute when she trapped a long pass from junior Larissa Steeb and scored to make it a 1-0 NA lead.  Fuller had a good chance in the 13th minute when she took a pass from senior Dawn Murphy, but her attempt was stopped by the Kiski keeper.  In the 17th minute, Smith made a great run and was pulled down in the box.  Gapczynski converted the penalty kick to give the Lady Tigers a 2-0 advantage.  In the 19th minute, NA threatened again when Steeb got a breakaway attempt that was stopped by the keeper with the Lady Tigers getting a corner kick which they failed to convert.  In the 25th minute, Antimarino sent a cross into the box but the keeper was there to make the stop.  A minute later, Fuller scored her first goal of the game on a cross from Smith as NA extended the margin to 3-0.  Kiski tried to come back, but junior GK Rachel Middleman made a great save on a shot from her right side to keep the three-goal advantage.  After Smith had two more chances that were stopped by the Kiski keeper, the Cavaliers got on the board just before halftime when they scored on a cross.  A last second attempt by NA went over the net, but the Lady Tigers took a 3-1 lead to the intermission.

Early in the second half, the Lady Tigers took control of the contest, scoring four goals in the first ten minutes.  After Fuller shot wide after a pass from Steeb in the second minute, the NA junior found the net after taking a pass from sophomore defender Christina Boada to give NA a commanding 4-1 lead.  In the fifth minute, Antimarino scored after a great pass from Murphy as the lead went to 5-1.  Fuller then stole the ball from a Kiski defender and raced past the Cavalier defenders to score her third of the game to make it a 6-1 NA advantage.  In the 10th minute, it was Fuller again converting on a throw in by Antimarino as the Tigers pushed the margin to 7-1.  At this point, NA Head Coach Chet Gapczynski began to substitute liberally.  Middleman had to come up big over the next four minutes as she had to make three saves.  In the 17th minute, senior Kelly Gilmour sent a headed to Smith who shot just wide of the goal.  Smith came close again a minute later as her shot was barely stopped by the Kiski keeper.  In the 21st minute, Goldstein collided with the Kiski keeper and went down in front of the goal.  The second half was stopped because of the serious injury as Goldstein was taken from the field by ambulance.  We will update her injury status as soon as we get the information.

With the win, the Lady Tigers opened the new season with a strong victory scoring seven goals in just 61 minutes.  NA will travel to Woodland Hills this morning to meet the Wolverines in a 10:00 am non-section contest.

JV UPDATE:  The JV posted another impressive NA victory with a 7-0 win in a game played with a shortened first half.  Katie Homan scored twice with Brianna Layman, Annie Erickson, Maria Snyder, Emily Johns, and Carly Brailer all tallying goals for NA.

(Thanks to Claudia Steeb for the information in this report!)

MATCH SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY - 7  KISKI AREA - 1

(NOTE: Game stopped after 61 minutes because of injury)

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

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2008 WPIAL GIRLS' SOCCER

The Lady Tigers will compete again in the WPIAL Class AAA along with 52 other teams.  The top three teams and ties will enter the WPIAL tournament.  All playoff entries will be determined by section record only and will be determined by the following method: Three points for a win, one point for a tie.  Teams that tie for first place will not have the tie broken and each will be declared champions and will receive a section winner's plaque.  Those teams will enter the tournament, and if the teams tied for first place total three or more no other teams will be entered into the tournament.  If only two teams are tied for first place, the second place team will enter as the third section representative.  In the event of a tie for second or third place, the tie breaker system will be employed.  If a tie persists, head-to-head competition will determine the qualifier.  In the event of a multiple tie, the following tie breaker will be employed:

1.  Section records of the tied teams will be compiled.
2.  The team that has the best won/loss record in head-to-head competition among the tied teams only will be the qualifier.
3.  If the tie cannot clearly be broken, all tied teams will enter the tournament.

Teams that qualify for the tournament should be aware that they may be placed in a preliminary round and may be assigned to play the weekend prior to the first round of the tournament.

Each game will consist of two equal halves of 40 minutes each.  Regular season game overtimes shall be resolved by playing no more than two (2) "sudden victory" overtime periods not to exceed ten minutes each.  If a tie persists at that point, the game is over and is recorded as a tie.  In post-season play, the procedure to determine a game winner will be the state adopted method of the National Federation soccer rules book.

PIAA qualifiers -- the four semifinalists will advance to the PIAA tournament.

Players and coaches who receive hard red cards and are disqualified from any game by the game official will not be permitted to play in the next scheduled game played by their team at the same level of competition.  Repeated red card offenders will be subjected to more severe penalties.

2008 GIRLS' SOCCER ALIGNMENT - 53 TEAMS

Any questions or comments should be directed to Athletic Director Bob Bozzuto at:  bbozzuto@northallegheny.org