Nov 4, 2020

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review Deer Lakes’ Michael Sullivan works past Shady Side Academy’s Koven Johnson on Wednesday, Oct. 14. In the past four years, the No. 1 Shady Side Academy have met 10 times, eight times in the regular season, and twice in the postseason. On Thursday at North Allegheny’s Newman Stadium, the teams will meet for the third time this season with WPIAL gold on the line. At this point in the season, the teams are very familiar with each other. “It’s more challenging to predict what they are going to do and for them to figure out what you are going to do because you know each other so intimately,” Shady Side Academy coach Ed Ellsworth said. “There’s not many secrets left to uncover between the two groups when you’ve played games we’ve played in section, in playoffs, in states. There’s not too many secrets left.” For the past two seasons, the teams have split their regular season contests, with both teams protecting their home field. This season, Shady Side scored two first-half goals to earn a 2-1 win, then Deer Lakes senior Mike Sullivan scored twice to lead the Lancers to a 2-0 victory. As the teams get set to meet in the WPIAL title game, both are starting to hit their stride at just the right time. The Lancers, who capped off their run to the WPIAL finals with a 7-1 win over No. 6 Mt. Pleasant on Monday, have won their last 11 games and have only allowed five goals during that stretch. The key to the Lancers’ success as of late has been the play of their entire team rather than a few select individuals. Throughout the season, captains Devin Murray, Colton Spence and Mike Sullivan have played a primary role, but recently, it’s been the emergence of players like Ryan Rodgers, Ronan Renter and Ryan Hanes up front and Nate Litrun on the backline, along with others, that has allowed Deer Lakes to take its play to a whole new level. “I feel like it’s finally clicking at this point now, and it’s where I thought it would be,” Deer Lakes coach Dan Yates said. “It’s good for the other boys now because we know they can do it and it helps out the likes of Sullivan, Dev and Spence. We know they can step up and play and score, and I’m really happy about that.” Shady Side has won five straight games since losing to the Lancers on Oct. 14 and has only allowed three goals since then. They’ve taken down Hopewell and Ambridge and also defeated No. 4 Elizabeth Forward, 4-0, on Monday to advance to the finals. They’re ready for another trip to the WPIAL finals. “It’s a base expectation at this school, and we talk about it every day,” Ellsworth said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity, and these opportunities don’t happen to everybody. They don’t. So we never take it for granted that it is a wonderful opportunity in front of us, and I’m sure Deer Lakes will approach it the exact same way.” While Shady Side has its expectations set, the Lancers are still working toward having those types of standards year in and year out. But after coming so close last season and having the WPIAL title at their fingertips, the Lancers have had the goal of getting back to the championship game since last fall. Now they are here, and there’s only one thing on their mind. “The goal is to win it now,” Yates said. “It’s going to be a good game. They beat us. We beat them. It’s at a neutral venue.” Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .