https://archive.triblive.com/news/pine-richland-lacrosse-team-not-missing-a-beat/
Pine-Richland lacrosse team not missing a beat
• |
Louis Raggiunti | For the Tribune-Review
Pine-Richland's Evan Juncal competes against Fox Chapel during a boys lacrosse match Wednesday, April 14, 2016, at Pine-Richland.
There have been plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong in the second year of coach Chip Young’s endeavor to change the culture surrounding the Pine-Richland boys lacrosse program.
The Rams (6-1, 2-0) graduated 14 seniors from last season’s team that lost in the WPIAL semifinals. While this season’s squad features half the number of seniors as last year’s, Young said leadership and dependability have not wavered.
“We only have seven seniors but they all contribute both on and off the field,” he said. “They do a tremendous job with only seven guys.
“People think a big senior group yields a lot of leaders but sometimes guys can hide a little bit in the shadows of the other guys. The spotlight has really been on these seven guys, and they’ve embraced it and they’ve done a great job.”
One of Pine-Richland’s senior leaders, Chris Rust, is the team’s leading scorer with 17 points. Prior to this season, Rust only had played junior varsity.
“It’s all about waiting for your time to come, and when it does, making the best of it,” Young said.
“He’s the smartest player on our team. He basically quarterbacks our offense.”
Another senior, Zack Novelli, has also played a crucial role for the Rams this season as a crunch-time specialist with a knack for scoring the big goal. Novelli’s winning goal against Bethel Park with 1 second left helped the Rams to their third one-goal victory of the season.
In close-game situations, Pine-Richland has been difficult for opponents to pin down. A reason for that is sophomore Jake Freedlander, who has won nearly 75 percent of his faceoff draws.
“That just equals more possessions for us,” Young said. “He’s one of the biggest reasons that we can stay in games and have those close victories where we come back against teams. It’s the most resilient group that I’ve ever been a part of as a coach, or a player.”
Junior Evan Juncal is the team’s do-everything guy when it comes to scoring goals, assists and burning clock.
Kevin Lohman is a freelance writer.
Copyright ©2026— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)