For the past several seasons, every team seemed to be playing for second place behind Mt. Lebanon in WPIAL girls lacrosse, but tonight might represent the best chance in years for Franklin Regional to change that perception.
At 6 p.m., No. 1 Mt. Lebanon and No. 3 Franklin Regional play in the semifinals at North Hills' Martorelli Stadium. The winner will play either Peters Township or Sewickley Academy, which meet in the other semifinal at 8. The WPIAL championship is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 25, also at Martorelli.
Mt. Lebanon has owned the millennium, taking the past four WPIAL Class AAAA championships, but this may be an unusual season of parity.
A year ago, en route to fortifying their dynasty, the Blue Devils ranked as high a third in the state and No. 31 nationally, serving as the only Pennsylvania representative in the top 200. This year, they've slipped to No. 295 nationally and No. 27 in the state, leaving room for a challenger. This year, the three remaining schools can envision themselves as champion of the 2006 tournament.
Beating Mt. Lebanon, however, never is easy.
"I'll put it this way: We're certainly going in there planning on winning. If you go in there with fear in your eyes, the game is over, " Franklin Regional coach Larry Eckert said. "My job is to get my kids ready to go. We played Shady Side a few years ago in a playoff game and they pretty much dismantled us, so we had a much higher level of intensity (Tuesday) night (in a 14-6 victory against Shady Side Academy) than we had throughout the season."
Pine-Richland eliminated Franklin Regional in the first round of the playoffs a year ago, limiting Franklin Regional's semifinal appearances to just one before this year.
Mt. Lebanon coach Julie Gartley said the rankings are not an appropriate indicator, but she admitted this year is different. Her team did not travel east, as it has in the past, to play the national powers. Nonetheless, Mt. Lebanon still earned the top spot in the eight-team playoff field, so proving that the juggernaut is still intact.
Mt. Lebanon and Franklin Regional faced off to start the 2006 season, with Mt. Lebanon winning, 13-7, on its home field.
The game tonight will be played on turf, so the conditions should not be too slick to keep Mt. Lebanon's speed-based, transition offense from scoring.
"I don't usually think about the weather," Gartley said. "That puts a thought in the girls' minds there might be a doubt and I don't want them thinking that there is one."
Franklin Regional operates best from a settled attack, which is less dependent on the weather.
No. 2 Sewickley Academy and No. 4 Peters Township compete in the other semifinal, with Sewickley ranked 34th in the state and Peters Township 45th. That means the top four teams might be closer than in previous seasons, making for an interesting Final Four. Peters Township lost to Mt. Lebanon, 15-4, in the championship game last year.
"I think what you're seeing is as the sport matures in western Pennsylvania, it's not that the top teams are any worse than they were," Eckert said. "This is probably our 10th year. (Mt. Lebanon) is probably at the 16-, 17-year point or more. You see the game, start liking the game, go to camps and the quality improves across the region."
