Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette Matt Brode celebrates his goal with teammate Harrison Reid last night in Hampton's 9-8 win against Fox Chapel for the WPSLA Division II title. Click photo for larger image.

From the early going in last night's Western Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association Division 1 championship, it was glaringly evident Mt. Lebanon was quicker than Central Catholic.

And it was just as evident the Vikings could do little to offset Mt. Lebanon's speed.

Getting four goals from Jeff Criswell and three from Jeremy Tissenbaum and Rob Marasti, Mt. Lebanon (13-10) cruised to a 14-3 victory against Central Catholic (15-5) at Quaker Valley's Chuck Knox Stadium.

The Blue Devils effectively kept the ball off the stick of Central Catholic's top goal-scoring threat, junior Will Donley, never letting the speedy attackman break free.

Mt. Lebanon took a 5-0 lead after the first quarter, made it 9-3 at halftime and rolled from there.

The game began 1 hour, 33 minutes late because storms delayed the game played prior to the Division 1 championship.

Division II

Hampton senior attackman Harrison Reid scored on a low, rocketed shot almost 2 minutes into sudden-death overtime, to give the Talbots (16-4) a 9-8 win against Fox Chapel (10-8) in the WPSLA Division 2 championship game.

But the particulars are fuzzy for most involved with the blistering shot from 9 yards that propelled Hampton to the title.

"Our goalie [junior Nick Engelhardt] got screened," Fox Chapel coach Lenny Labriola said. "He never saw it."

Ditto for Hampton coach Dan Shea.

"I didn't know what happened," he said. "I was standing there, and then, all of a sudden, people were running past me. I kind of saw it go in the back of the net, but that's it."

And what about Reid, whose winner was his third goal of the contest? What was his vantage point like before a mob scene of Hampton players rushed the field?

"Honestly I don't remember it," said Reid, who plans to play at IUP next year.

"All I know is that I kept it low and then, well, the next thing I remember is that the whole sideline came over and jumped on top of me. All I know is I shot it and then I was at the bottom of a pile and couldn't breathe."

It was a championship game that had an ebb and flow to it because of the weather as well as the seesaw score.

Due to lightning, the game was delayed 1 hour, 9 minutes midway through the first quarter. Not long afterward, the match was halted for a second time with 6:54 remaining in the second quarter, and that delay lasted 46 minutes.

Fox Chapel jumped to a 3-1 lead early in the second quarter, when Tim Dodson scored his second goal in two minutes. The teams then exchanged goals, making it 4-2 in Fox Chapel's favor with 7:34 left before halftime.

That's when the Talbots regrouped, pulling together to score three consecutive goals. Matt Brode, Dan Miller and Dan Perestock netted goals in the final seven minutes before the half to put Hampton up, 5-4, at the break.

Undaunted, the Foxes struck back right after halftime as Brendan Eisenbrandt had a goal and, with 4:49 left in the third, Kevin Gordon scored to give the Foxes a 6-5 advantage.

Brad Wolff, a Hampton senior attack, had a short-handed goal with 8:02 left in the fourth to put the Talbots ahead, but Fox Chapel battled back as Dodson and Tyler Keenan scored in the final 6:04 to send it to overtime.

Then, Reid found the back of the net with the winner.

Honestly, he did ... even if hardly anyone saw it.