Shady Side Academy Beats 2013 Champ Mt. Lebanon To Win WPIAL D-I Boys Lacrosse Gold

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, May 24, 2014 | 12:40 AM

Mt. Lebanon was the defending WPIAL Division I boys lacrosse champion and came into the tournament as the top seed. The Blue Devils had also won 3 prior Division I titles in 2009, 2011 and last year. None of that mattered on this night to Shady Side Academy mostly because of senior Dan Marous. The Indians leading scorer netted a third quarter hat trick to break open a 1-1 halftime tie and propel Shady Side Academy to a 7-3 win for its first WPIAL Boys Division I championship at Highmark Stadium at Station Square.

The Indians, who were making their 2^nd title game appearance in 3 seasons, got on the board first when freshman Clayton Krol took a feed from Michael Concordia and beat Blue Devils goalie Matt Lee at 1:56 of the second quarter.

Mt. Lebanon tied the game at 5:13 of the quarter on a great individual effort by senior attacker Louis Lucerne. Lucerne came out from along the right goal line and backed his way into scoring position before turning and beating Tucker Gillman to tie the game at 1-1.

In the third quarter Shady Side took control of the match on the efforts of Marous. The Notre Dame bound attacker put the Indians up 2-1 with his first goal of the game and 57^th of the season at 1:51.

The Blue Devils tied the game a 2-2 when senior Brendan White answered at 6:14.

But Marous completed the hat trick with goals at 6:59 and 11:20 to give Shady Side a 4-2 lead after three quarters. The Indians would add three more tallies in the 4^th quarter on their way to the win.

Alec Bernstein netted his 28^th goal of the season of a great pass from sophomore Max Jaffe with put Bernstein in alone of Lee. Krol added his second goal of the game off of a Marous feed at 4:38 and senior midfielder Peter McDonagh, who scored his first goal of the season in an opening round quarterfinal win over Peters Township, put the icing on the cake for the Indians when he found the net with just :46 remaining in the game.

Gillman, a senior who is headed to play Division I Lacrosse at Georgetown, was stellar in net for Shady Side Academy, finishing with 10 saves. Junior midfielder Robby Woodings was great on the draws for the Indians winning 10 of 13 on the game.

The Indians, the #2 seed in the Division I tournament improved to (14-4) with the victory. The Indians head to the state playoffs for the second time in three seasons as the top seed from District 7. Shady Side Academy will represent the WPIAL and take on the 4^th place finisher from District 3.

Mt. Lebanon falls to (12-9) with the loss, but the Blue Devils also qualified for the state playoffs and will face either the District 6 or District 10 champions in the first round. The PIAA tournament starts next Wednesday May 28^th.

Scoring Summary:

Mt. Lebanon:                     0   1   1   0  = 2

Shady Side Academy:    0   1   3   3 =  7

1st Quarter Scoring:

NONE

2^nd Quarter Scoring:

SSA: Clayton Krul – Michael Concordia                    (1:56)

Mt. L: Louis Lucerne                                                          (5:13)

3rd Quarter Scoring:

SSA: Dan Marous                                                             (1:51)

Mt. L: Brendan White                                                     (6:14)

SSA: Marous (2)                                                                                (6:59)

SSA: Marous (3)                                                                                (11:20)

4th Quarter Scoring:

SSA: Alec Bernstein – Max Jaffe                                                (1:58)

SSA: Krol (2) – Marous                                                    (4:38)

SSA: Peter McDonagh                                                    (11:14)

Man Up Situations

Mt. Lebanon: 0-for-1

Shady Side Academy: 0-for-2

Goalkeepers

Mt. Lebanon: Matt Lee – 4 Saves

Shady Side Academy: Tucker Gillman – 10 Saves