Boys lacrosse finalists to meet again in Tuesday’s 3 things to watch in high school sports

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, March 26, 2018 | 6:03 PM

Last year, Peters Township edged Mt. Lebanon, 12-11, in an overtime thriller to win the WPIAL Class AAA boys lacrosse championship. Now the two teams face each other to open up the 2018 campaign Tuesday night.

The defending WPIAL champion Indians visit the Blue Devils in a nonsection match on the first full day of the district boys lacrosse schedule.

The 2017 title game was not expected as the postseason began with Peters Township as the No. 7 seed and Mt. Lebanon as the No. 8 seed in the 14-team postseason tournament. But the Indians ousted No. 2-seed Pine-Richland and No. 3-seed Shady Side Academy on their way to the finals, while the Blue Devils upset top-seeded North Allegheny and No. 4 Upper St. Clair in setting up the unlikely title match.

That double-overtime championship winning goal was scored by then-junior Daniel Bacchiochi, ending Mt. Lebanon's string of winning titles every odd year since 2009. The Blue Devils also captured district gold in 2011, 2013, 2015 and were one goal from adding 2017 to that unique run.

Class AAA volleyball openers

Section play begins for all but two of the 22 WPIAL Class AAA boys volleyball teams, including for two-time defending champion North Allegheny. The Tigers host Shaler at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Titans reached the quarterfinals in last year's playoffs before losing to Bethel Park.

Listen to the Tigers-Titans match on the TribLive High School Sports Network .

Also in Section 2-AAA, Seneca Valley visits Fox Chapel. The Raiders reached the semifinals a year ago while the Foxes missed the playoffs, only two years after winning the WPIAL championship in 2015.

Penn-Trafford won WPIAL gold in 2016 but had to settle for silver when it lost to North Allegheny in the title match in 2017. The Warriors open up section play Tuesday at Gateway.

Softball section lidlifters

If Mother Nature cooperates, section play will begin for several district teams around the softball diamonds of Western Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon.

Two games that stand out amongst the 25 scheduled is a Class 5A battle of Fayette County teams in Section 2 as Connellsville hosts Albert Gallatin at 4 p.m. In 2017, both the Falcons and Colonials reached the 5A quarterfinals where Connellsville fell to Montour and Albert Gallatin stunned No. 2-seed Penn-Trafford, 9-5, to reach the Final Four. The Colonials lost 5-1 to Moon in the semifinals but did qualify for the state playoffs by beating Montour, 8-4.

In Class 2A openers, South Side Beaver visits Laurel at 5 p.m. in Section 4. The Rams swept the Spartans in the regular season en route to a section championship and the top seed in the 2A playoffs. Laurel upset OLSH in the first round of the postseason before falling to Frazier, 7-6, in the quarterfinals. A round later, Frazier blanked South Side Beaver, 2-0, in the finals to win district gold.

Don Rebel is a TribLive High School Sports Network broadcaster and staff writer. Reach him at drebel@tribweb.com.

Tags: Albert Gallatin, Connellsville, Fox Chapel, Laurel, Mt. lebanon, North Allegheny, Peters Township, Seneca Valley, Shaler, South Side