North Allegheny boys water polo wins state title in wild, 4OT classic

By: John Grupp
Saturday, November 16, 2024 | 11:01 AM

The North Allegheny boys water polo team traveled to the sport’s hotbed in Pennsylvania and threw a pool party for the ages.

The Tigers defeated three Eastern Pa. powerhouses in three days to bring home the state championship, capped by a 10-9 four-overtime victory against Upper Dublin on Nov. 9 at North Penn.

“It was an epic final, a historic final,” coach Damir Matanovic said. “They threw me in the pool. They threw my assistant (Joe Hollo) in the pool as well. It was a brilliant moment. The pride and the happiness in the kids’ faces. All the credit goes to them.”

Senior center Caden Currykosky’s no-look golden goal with 1:53 to play in the fourth overtime gave North Allegheny (19-6) its first state championship since 2013 in a sport dominated by Philadelphia-area schools.

The No. 4-seeded Tigers reached the finals by beating No. 5 North Penn, 10-8, in the quarterfinals for their first victory over the defending state champion in more than a decade, and then upsetting No. 1 La Salle, 7-4, in the semifinals.

In a wild, back-and-forth championship, North Allegheny allowed game-tying goals to No. 2 Upper Dublin with 11 seconds to play in regulation and 18 seconds left in the second three-minute overtime before winning it in sudden death.

“It was very hard psychologically to get the team together and keep them believing,” Matanovic said. “I’m very proud of the boys.”

After a scoreless sudden-death third OT, Currykosky scored the winner off a pass from junior Callan Bunger while being shoved underwater. It was his third goal of the game and 44th of the season.

“The ball landed perfectly in front of me,” Currykosky said. “The guy who was covering me just grabbed me. I spun around and grabbed the ball and my head went underwater. So I estimated where the goal was and shot, and it just happened to work out.

“I actually didn’t know we won until I came up (out of the water) and I looked at my coach and he was doing one of those soccer slides that (Cristiano) Ronaldo does. That’s how I knew it was all good. And our parents were losing their minds.”

North Allegheny, which also won state titles in 2012 and ‘13, is one of 22 water polo programs in Pennsylvania and the only WPIAL school.

Currykosky and junior goalie Mike Stefanko, who made 16 saves in the title game, were named first-team all-state. Freshman driver/wing Tabari Morgan, who scored a team-high 67 goals, earned second-team all-state and PA Rookie of the Year honors, while Bunger (55 goals), who scored four goals in the championship, was named third team.

Other top players included senior center defender Grant Regule (30g, 14a), junior wings Mason Shantz (team-high 44 assists) and Logan Purnell (13g, 12a), and freshman driver/wing Filip Malezanov (19g, 29a).

The Tigers will return 16 players from the 20-man roster, losing Currykosky, Regule and driver/wings Anthony Spino and Sravan Sukhavasi to graduation.

“Our core remains here,” Matanovic said. “We’re going to be working very hard to defend our state title. I told them after the celebration that the hardest thing is defending a title. We’ll start thinking about next year very soon.”

Liquid gold

Here is North Allegheny’s path to the Pennsylvania water polo state championship

Date Opponent Score, result

Nov. 7 North Penn 10-8, W

Nov. 8 La Salle 7-4, W

Nov. 9 Upper Dublin 10-9 (4OT), W

Tags: North Allegheny