East Allegheny boys soccer team dethrones defending 2A champ Deer Lakes
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Monday, October 25, 2021 | 9:21 PM
East Allegheny’s Ryan Nichol (left) and Josh Nellis celebrate after Nichol scored the winning goal in overtime of their WPIAL Class 2A first round playoff game against Deer Lakes on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, at Deer Lakes High School.
East Allegheny’s Ryan Nichol scores between Deer Lakes goalkeeper Nick Braun (left) and Bridyn Lewis during overtime of their WPIAL Class 2A first-round playoff game Monday.
East Allegheny’s Matthew Armenio celebrates his goal against Deer Lakes during a WPIAL Class 2A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, at Deer Lakes High School.
East Allegheny’s Matthew Armenio battles Deer Lakes’ Ryan Hanes for possession during their WPIAL Class 2A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, at Deer Lakes High School.
East Allegheny’s Matthew Armenio celebrates his goal against Deer Lakes with Joe Connors during their WPIAL Class 2A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, at Deer Lakes High School.
Deer Lakes goalkeeper Nick Braun retrieves the ball after East Allegheny scored in overtime to win their WPIAL Class 2A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, at Deer Lakes High School.
East Allegheny’s Matthew Armenio celebrates his goal against Deer Lakes during a WPIAL Class 2A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, at Deer Lakes High School.
East Allegheny keeper Gage Mehler works in goal next to Colin Goyke during their WPIAL Class 2A first round playoff game against Deer Lakes on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, at Deer Lakes High School.
East Allegheny’s Josh Nellis heads the ball over Deer Lakes’ Michael Butler during their WPIAL Class 2A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, at Deer Lakes High School.
East Allegheny’s Ryan Rupert (16) celebrates after defeating Deer Lakes, 2-1 in overtime, in a WPIAL Class 2A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, at Deer Lakes High School.
East Allegheny’s Matthew Armenio celebrates his goal against Deer Lakes with Joe Connors during their WPIAL Class 2A first round playoff game on Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, at Deer Lakes High School.
There will be a new WPIAL champion in boys Class 2A.
East Allegheny sophomore midfielder Ryan Nichol scored off a rebound 24 seconds into overtime to lift No. 10 East Allegheny past defending champion Deer Lakes, 2-1, in a first-round game Monday at Lancers Stadium.
“That felt amazing,” Nichol said after the game. “There is a whole bunch of emotions after a game like that. We talked about being aggressive (in the overtime) and just looking to make a play. They were down a man, so we wanted to make sure we were able to take advantage of that.”
East Allegheny, in the playoffs for the first time since 2018, advanced to the quarterfinals, where it will face No. 2 Quaker Valley, a 5-1 winner over Burrell on Monday.
“We knew this game was going to be a battle,” East Allegheny coach Josh Miller said. “All of the teams are going to play physical because at the end of the day, you win or you go home. We knew it was going to be tough. We have a couple of players out hurt, but the guys who were in there stepped up and did what they had to for their teammates.”
East Allegheny was without junior all-conference defender Colby Miller and senior defender Austin Lewis.
Deer Lakes, which finished runner-up to Shady Side Academy in Section 2, ended its season 8-5-1. The Lancers played with 10 men for the final 62 minutes after junior fullback Nathan Litrun was issued a red card for what the officials deemed was an unsportsmanlike act during a dead ball.
“We just have to take from this what we can and move into the offseason ready to work,” Deer Lakes first-year coach Aaron Smith said. “This stings, and it will sting the guys for a while, but we just have to move on.
“Hat’s off to East Allegheny. All the credit in the world to them. They fought extremely hard the whole game. To be honest, the game could’ve gone either way. Playing down a man is not easy, no matter who you are playing, let alone a tough team like East A. They could definitely surprise some people.”
Wildcats sophomore midfielder Josh Nellis took the initial shot in the overtime goal-scoring sequence. Deer Lakes junior goalkeeper Nick Braun stopped the shot but was not able to gain control of the ball.
Nichol came in and cleaned up the play to send the Wildcats to the next round.
“We work on getting the ball wide and deep and getting it across,” coach Miller said. “We get a nice cross to Josh who gets a header near the goalie. Their goalie made a really nice save. We always preach crash, crash, crash. That’s why you work on that so much. It paid off for Ryan and it paid off for us.”
East Allegheny finished the game with an 8-6 shots-on-goal advantage. The teams were even in shots through regulation.
Each team scored a goal in the first half, and the intensity, emotion, pace of play and defense picked up as the second half wore on.
Both goalkeepers, including East Allegheny senior Gage Mehler, made a key save on prime scoring chances early in the second half to keep the score tied.
Deer Lakes put on the offensive pressure as time ticked down in the second half. The East Allegheny defense turned away direct-kick attempts from junior forward Ruger Beer and junior midfielder Ryan Hanes inside of eight minutes left on the second-half clock.
East Allegheny got on the board first with 31 minutes, 21 seconds left in the first half as junior captain Matthew Armenio gained control of the ball at about 30 yards, dribbled in and fired a shot that made it past Braun.
Deer Lakes gained a majority of possession for about 15 minutes following the East Allegheny goal but was not able to net the equalizer.
Play was stopped with 12:23 left in the first half as the officials sorted out the Litrun red card.
But coming out of the break in the action, Deer Lakes struck quickly. Seven seconds after play resumed, junior Kyle Penn corralled a loose ball in a scrum in front of the East Allegheny goal and found the back of the net.
Both teams recorded three shots on goal over the first 40 minutes.
“No matter who we play moving forward, we have the belief that if we play our game and play the best we can, we are going to be a tough matchup,” coach Miller said.
Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.
Tags: Deer Lakes, East Allegheny
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