North Allegheny boys lacrosse team holds heads high after gutsy PIAA loss

By: John Grupp
Saturday, June 7, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Trailing District 3 champion Manheim Township by six goals in the fourth quarter of its PIAA Class 3A boys lacrosse playoff opener, North Allegheny could have taken its lumps and called it a season.

But the Tigers had some bite left.

North Allegheny scored five unanswered goals to cut the deficit to one goal with two minutes to play and had a potential game-tying shot before host Manheim Township (16-2) scored twice late and survived, 11-8, on June 2.

“We fought hard,” said all-WPIAL senior defenseman Colman Craft, whose goal started the comeback effort from a 9-3 deficit. “We never stepped down. We gave it our all.”

North Allegheny coach John Rullan was proud of his team, which shook off a slow start following a four-hour bus ride to the Lancaster-area school.

“Once they started playing, they played pretty well,” he said. “We just came up a little short. It was a group that never gave up. I can’t be prouder of them. They played hard, and Manheim was worried.”

The fourth-quarter rally was typical of an NA team that refused to quit during a nip-and-tuck 2025 season. North Allegheny finished 11-10 — its first season with double-digit losses since going 10-12 in 2005 — but the record was deceiving. The Tigers played a schedule dotted with out-of-state private school powers and suffered one-goal losses to WPIAL Class 3A finalists Mt. Lebanon and Shady Side Academy as well as Kiski School.

“It was a weird season in that respect,” said Rullan, in his 24th season. “It doesn’t look good when you see the numbers. But that’s what we do. We never think we’re out of it.”

The Tigers went 5-1 in Section 2-3A, tying Shady Side Academy and Pine-Richland for first place, and posted an 8-4 record against WPIAL schools.

They also overcame a 5-0 deficit to beat Archbishop Moeller (Ohio), 7-5, on May 2 at the Midwest Scholastic Lacrosse Association tournament.

The Tigers earned their way to states with a pair of one-goal wins in the WPIAL postseason.

North Allegheny, the No. 4 seed, beat No. 5 Pine-Richland, 7-6, in the quarterfinals and, after a 9-4 semifinal loss to top-seeded Mt. Lebanon, escaped No. 3 Upper St. Clair with an 8-7 win in the WPIAL third-place game to clinch back-to-back appearances in the PIAA playoffs for only the second time (2015-16).

“We found a way to win,” said Craft, who will play at Division I Hobart. “That shows the character on this team.”

Craft was part of a 12-man senior class that included St. John’s-bound goalie Logan Lyle, attack Sam Porter (20 goals), midfielders Jacob Clarkson and Jack Ferraro and defenders Kaden Brown and Jake Burns.

Attack Travis Lamark, who missed his final season with a knee injury, and Derek Walker, Jack Paclawski, Adam Stegeman and Owen Lucot rounded out the class of 2025.

“We came so far as a group,” Craft said. “In eighth grade, none of us were good. We never expected to have this big of an impact on a team.”

Said Rullan: “We had very good leadership from our senior class. They’ve been playing since they were little kids. They put it on themselves to lead. They made it easy to coach.”

North Allegheny returns its top two scorers, junior midfielder/attack Nick Sichak (46 goals) and Johnny Castillo (35 goals), along with sophomore attack Mason Brown, named the team’s most improved player.

Rullan said the finality of the PIAA loss “wasn’t as bad as it usually is” because the players made such a remarkable rally, albeit in defeat.

Speaking by phone during the long bus ride from Manheim Township, Rullan said the players showed their commitment two days before the PIAA loss while at the June 1 team banquet.

“Some of the younger kids came out of the banquet and said, ‘I’m going to do this. I’m going to get bigger,’ ” he said. “It’s a great thing. It’s hard on them right now, but I think in another 100 miles, they will be fine.”

Tags: North Allegheny