Tigers Conquer Trojans in ‘Battle of the North’

Photo courtesy Rachael Kriger

In a cross-classification battle between a pair of Northern suburban schools boys soccer programs that rarely play each other, North Allegheny outlasted North Catholic, 3-1, at JRK Memorial Classic at Pine-Richland High School on Saturday afternoon.

The Trojans (0-1-0) struck first, but the Tigers (1-1-0) responded with a quick equalizer in the first half one minute later, then scored twice in the second half with junior Justin Chen leading the way with a brace.  Senior Nick Denysenko scored the other goal for North Allegheny.

North Allegheny Head Coach Manuel Montero, who brought the team to the brink of a WPIAL Class 4A Championship in 2023, but with a big core from that group gone, he saw his team lose its season opener to Wheeling Park, 2-1, on Friday in the JRK Classic, then fall behind against North Catholic.

“It’s disappointing in a few areas, but it’s also happy in a few others. It’s so early in the season, so we’re still trying to see what the squad looks like,” Montero said.

North Catholic Head Coach Scott Schlegel will take plenty away from his team’s performance. .

“It was a good challenge for us. It’s a chance to play at a pace that we may not see at (Class) 2A, so it’s an opportunity that we can use, and harken back to come playoff time, if we’re fortunate enough to be there. You hate to lose. You hate to give up two goals in the second half, but they finished them, and we had a couple that we let go by, but that’s the beauty of soccer, we get to come back tomorrow.”

How It Happened 

North Allegheny started the match on the front foot, sending balls forward and using the width, but North Catholic were fairly well organized, keeping the Tigers at bay for a good part of the first 20 minutes.

North Catholic kept its composure, playing skillfully through the middle of the fiend when they had opportunities to possess the ball.

Eventually, in the 26th minute, patience paid off for the Trojans, as a long ball played inside the edge of the box forced North Allegheny keeper Emiliano Perin to come way off his line, while a few defenders also converged on the ball while North Catholic’s sophomore midfielder Arthur Montero made a run to get to the ball first.   As everyone came to the ball, it took a deflection and spiraled quickly into the open net to give the Trojans the 1-0 lead.

North Allegheny responded quickly.

In fact, not even a minute later, the Tigers pushed into the box, with a cross coming from the right side, from senior Nathan Katari, connecting with Chen, who drove a shot into the top part of the net to level the match at 1-1.

“I was right there, looking for that cross, so I can shoot, and I got lucky,” Chen said then reflected the credit to Katari.

“It was a really great cross, so props to him.”

North Allegheny controlled possession from the start of the second half.

“We went into the second half thinking we got to get a goal,” Chen added.

“We don’t want to be the team that’s winning (play), but the other team scores. So we wanted to shut them down

Though he took a few chances early in the match from distance that sailed over the bar, in the 46th minute, after some solid build-up play, the ball found its way into the box again following a one-touch cross, the North Allegheny junior struck gold again, tapping the ball in past Drew Schedlbauer to give North Allegheny its first lead of the season, 2-1.

While the Tigers controlled play, North Catholic kept hanging around, and with savvy Montoro’s deft passing and sending dangerous balls forward, the Trojans were just one play from equalizing the match.

Then, in the 74th minute, the Tigers put the match away when Mykola Desysenko hits the back of net from left edge of box.

North Allegheny limited North Catholic’s chances the rest of the way, seeing out their first win of the season that proved to be a good litmus test for both sides.

“We should have finished this match in the first half,” Montero said.

“It’s an area that we are trying to emphasize, finishing games a little bit earlier.  But we finished well in the second half, so I am pretty pleased with that.”

“We scrimmaged Seneca (Valley), we played North Allegheny today, then Central Catholic tomorrow, so we’ll be done with (playing Class) 4A teams for a while,” Schlegel remarked.

“We have to take possession of the ball a bit more against these teams that can come in waves. We are a team that has a lot of skill and looking forward to see how we progress this season.”

Rachael Kriger Photo Gallery

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Post Match Interviews

(NA’s HC Manuel Montero, Jr. Justin Chen & NC’s HC Scott Schlegel)