Mt. Lebanon stages furious comeback, downs top-seeded Pine-Richland to win WPIAL 3A girls lacrosse title

By: Matthew Purucker
Thursday, May 22, 2025 | 9:51 PM

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Top-seeded Pine-Richland entered the WPIAL Class 3A girls lacrosse championship game having defeated No. 3 seed Mt. Lebanon by 12 goals in a May 8 regular season showdown.

The Blue Devils gave the Rams a much better game this time around, to say the least.

Trailing 12-7 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Mt. Lebanon stormed back and claimed a 15-14 victory in dramatic fashion Thursday night at Upper St. Clair.

It was the second consecutive WPIAL championship for Mt. Lebanon and seventh overall, which leads all schools. The team’s victory put a wide smile on the face of Blue Devils coach Brian Kattan.

“It’s tremendous to win two in a row, after nobody really (thought) we’d be back here this year,” Kattan said. “I feel great for the 24 girls who are here.”

The first half was tightly contested between the two WPIAL lacrosse powers. Neither side could sustain an advantage for long. With 4:38 left in the first quarter, Mt. Lebanon’s Grace Manning notched the first of five goals (and one assist) to tie the score at 3-3, which lasted until the end of the quarter.

The sophomore attacker was creative and relentless in the offensive end.

“I’m honestly just so proud of my team,” Manning said. “We worked so hard ever since we lost to Pine in the regular season. We knew we were probably going to see them again in the finals, so we worked hard every day, and I’m just proud it paid off.”

Mt. Lebanon gained a 6-5 halftime lead after outscoring Pine-Richland 3-2 in the second quarter. Pine-Richland had a goal nullified with just more than six minutes to go in the half after a crease violation on a free position chance.

However, after halftime adjustments, Pine-Richland’s offense got off to a hot start and quickly retook the lead. The Rams scored two goals in the first two minutes of the second half before netting five out of the next six goals to amass the 12-7 lead.

“Our offense figured it out, and then I think part of it was we got a yellow card, which I think stopped our momentum, which gave them the momentum back,” Pine-Richland coach Shannen Wood said. “I mean, they’re a tough team, and obviously we played them multiple times, so we know they’re going to capitalize on our mistakes, and we were a man down, and so we have to expect that.”

Mt. Lebanon scored four straight in the final four minutes of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 12-11. Then, Pine-Richland netted two in the opening two minutes of the fourth quarter.

Cate Gentile’s hat trick goal with 10:23 left in the game kept the Rams in front 14-11, but that was the last time Pine-Richland scored.

When it needed to most, Mt. Lebanon’s defense performed its best. The Blue Devils forced four Pine-Richland turnovers and did not allow goalie Nina Grago to face a single shot on target throughout the final 10 minutes.

They also scored four more times, two of which were from Manning, to close out the win.

“I didn’t realize the last 10 minutes we shut them out. That’s unbelievable defense,” Kattan said. “They did a great job all year of defense, and really, I’ve been talking to them all, and especially our goalie, about being a goldfish. It’s don’t let anything bother you because the next one’s thinking about that one, and they did a great job with it. They really did.”

Tags: Mt. lebanon, Pine-Richland