Clutch goal helps Pine-Richland get past Mt. Lebanon for 6th straight WPIAL field hockey title

By: Ted Sarneso
Saturday, November 2, 2024 | 6:25 PM

Previous Next

The WPIAL Class 3A field hockey title game was a tale of two halves for both No. 2 seed Mt. Lebanon and top seed Pine-Richland on Saturday.

In the first half, chances were even between the squads as both goalkeepers did outstanding jobs to thwart any second or third opportunities from the opposing attack.

Then, the Rams took over in the second half, possessing the ball in the Blue Devils’ end for 90% of the remaining 30 minutes.

“Coming out of half, we knew we would have possession and we just made some minor adjustments,” said Pine-Richland coach Donna Stephenson. “We played down our right and still had to come back and cut back towards the ball. The turf here is new, which meant the field was slow, so we had to adjust to that.”

Rams junior forward Anna Merlack scored the game’s only goal to help Pine-Richland (20-0) prevail 1-0 over Mt. Lebanon (12-5) at Cameron Stadium at Washington & Jefferson College and win its sixth straight WPIAL title.

The Rams got a corner at 12:42 in the third quarter, and the ball went into senior Madeline Mill, who sent the ball to her left to fellow senior Georgia Rottinghaus, who fired a shot towards the net.

The ball hit off of a few Mt. Lebanon defenders and was slowly making its way toward the net. Merlack was quicker to the ball than Blue Devils goalkeeper Olivia Marcovitz and she tapped it in.

“From previous practices, I knew to have my stick down on the post,” Merlack said. “The ball came to me and I just tipped it in. It was awesome.”

Madeline Mill and her sister Claire teamed up for one of the first chances in the second half for the Rams. Claire took a feed from Madeline on a two-on-one, but Marcovitz came out and shut the door with a kick save.

Two minutes later, Rottinghaus had a golden chance, but the Blue Devils’ Autumn Dowiak ran up to block the shot.

Claire Mill had another opportunity to score but once again, Marcovitz stepped up to cut off the angle and stop the shot.

Mt. Lebanon had its chances earlier in the game, but was unable to put one past Rams keeper Maddie Merlack, and once the Rams turned it on in the second half, they never got an opportunity for a goal, to tie or otherwise.

“They ramped it up a little bit, but we were ready for it,” said Mt. Lebanon coach Brian Kattan. “I give them credit. They’re a very good team and played very well. Our goalie was outstanding. She made a ton of saves. We just couldn’t get the ball on net when we needed to.”

It was the fifth loss of the season for Mt. Lebanon, and four came against the Rams, who outscored their opponents 118-1 on the year. That one goal was scored by the Blue Devils.

“Our girls were very happy in that fact,” said Kattan. “Obviously we want to win, but what are you going to do? This was the best game we played all year, which showed our girls made improvements throughout the season. Just a few more bounces our way and maybe we get a few goals.”

The Rams will look to take their dominant level of play this season and translate that into success in the PIAA playoffs, a place where WPIAL teams struggle to find wins.

“We have a lot of girls that are returning from last year, so they have the experience of playing at states. They know what to expect,” said Stephenson. “We don’t know if we’ll play Mechanicsburg or Wilson, but we’ll be ready. The girls really want it this year.”

Tags: Mt. lebanon, Pine-Richland