North Allegheny boys lacrosse gets defensive
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Thursday, April 19, 2018 | 11:00 PM
John Rullan has been patiently waiting.
Once the North Allegheny boys lacrosse coach has his entire team on the field, Rullan believes the Tigers will be able to cause some damage.
Not that North Allegheny has been floundering without some key cogs. Following a victory over Plum last Wednesday at home, the Tigers had put together five wins over their past six games to improve to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in Section 2-AAA.
“Probably as expected,” Rullan said about his team's performance. “We are kind of young so we are pretty much where we thought we'd be. We knew we couldn't win all of them, but we have a lot of injuries and a lot of young guys. If we ever get them together at the same time, we might be able to do something.”
North Allegheny took on Franklin Regional in another section matchup Monday, after deadline for this edition. The Tigers have put things together despite playing without sophomore attack Isaiah Davis, who was injured in the team's season-opening loss to Dublin Jerome March 24.
The Tigers also have played several games without two defensive midfielders, Michael Egnaczyk and Justin Williams.
North Allegheny's defense has been among the WPIAL's best thus far this season, ranking seventh in the league by allowing 5.86 goals per contest.
In three of the Tigers' five victories, North Allegheny limited its opponents to five goals or less.
“We have a system where the guys don't have too much to think about,” Rullan said. “With being young guys, they play within our system. We don't have a crazy amount of freelancing this year. As long as they get through that, as they get older they will get more freedom.”
North Allegheny hopes to continue to branch out as the season goes along.
The Tigers have been able to hold serve well early in the season.
North Allegheny would like to see the progress continue once everyone is back in the lineup.
“I think they've done a good job,” Rullan said. “We've had some tough games early on. Our schedule got easier in the middle. We go to Mason on the weekend which will be a tough game. It will be harder as the season continues, but we're hoping everyone will be back.”
Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.
Tags: North Allegheny
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