As the clock dwindled under two minutes, it looked as if North Allegheny would hold serve against host Pine-Richland last night.

But as the seconds in teh football game ticked away, the Tigers' would-be victory did, as well.

Mitch Elliott leapt over the goal line on a 1-yard touchdown run with 19 seconds left, lifting Pine-Richland (3-4, 1-2) to a 24-20 upset against fourth-ranked North Allegheny (4-3, 2-1) in WPIAL Class AAAA Northern Six Conference play.

North Allegheny led, 20-17, with about two minutes left, before a fumble gave the ball back to Pine-Richland. The Rams then drove down the field with the help of a North Allegheny roughing the pass penalty and a 20-yard hookup from quarterback Eric Kordenbrock to Ian Hennessy.

Pine Richland, which has won two of three games after dropping its first three, led the contest, 10-7, at halftime.

Top boys' soccer games

• In a showdown of two of the Post-Gazette's top-ranked Class AA teams, No. 3 Knoch (12-1-1, 10-1-1) earned the Section 2 title by edging No. 2 Mars (12-2-2, 8-2-2), 2-1, in overtime. The Wood brothers, Kory, a freshman, and Kevin, a junior, scored for Knoch. Their father, Doug, is the Knights' coach.

• Also in Section 2, Class AA No. 1 Center (13-1-1, 12-1-1) wrapped up the section title with a 6-1 rout of Beaver (11-6-1, 8-5-1). Zachary Taylor scored two goals for the Trojans.

• Class AA No. 4 Thomas Jefferson (16-1, 13-1) clinched the Section 3 championship with a 5-2 win against Elizabeth Forward (10-6-1, 8-5-1). Alex Danzey scored netted a hat trick for the Jaguars, who also got two goals from Tyler Fabian.

• Austin Letters scored two goals to lead Springdale (15-2, 11-1) to a tie for the Class A Section 2 title with a 4-1 victory against Riverview (12-6-1, 8-4). For the Dynamos, ranked No. 4, it was their first section title in 22 years. They'll share the crown with No. 3 Shady Side Academy.

• Elisha Carleton scored three goals to lead Class A No. 5 Beaver County Christian (14-1, 10-1) to a 5-0 win against South Side Beaver (0-16, 0-11) in Section 5.

Playoff clinchings

• Hopewell (10-5-1, 9-4-1) earned its first playoff berth in 23 years, as it defeated Ambridge (8-9, 7-7) in overtime, 2-1, in Class AA Section 4. Matt Booska scored the winner with 5:52 left in the first overtime.

• Class AA No. 7 Belle Vernon (12-4-2, 9-4-1) locked up a playoff spot in Section 3, defeating Yough (5-11-2, 4-9-1), 1-0. Matt Miele scored for the Leopards.

Streaking

• Nick Wilcox's goal in the 50th minute broke a 1-1 tie and enabled Class AAA No. 5 Peters Township (12-5) sneak past Shaler (5-10-2), 2-1, in a non-section contest. The Indians, who also got a goal from Christian Brandstetter, have won 10 of their past 11 games after starting the season 2-4.

Milestones

• Mt. Lebanon coach Ron Wilcher reached yet another landmark in his coaching career, picking up the 400th win of his career in the Blue Devils' (17-0, 12-0) 1-0 overtime victory against Bethel Park (9-4-3, 7-4-1) in Class AAA Section 4. Zach Batteer scored 1:06 into the first overtime for the top-ranked Blue Devils. Wilcher is 400-133-36 in his 24 seasons as head coach.

"You don't think about it until you get there," Wilcher said of reaching the plateau. "Not too many coaches get to this level. It's a great milestone."

• Tim Wood set a new single season scoring record at Greensburg Central Catholic, as his five goals helped the Class A No. 2 Centurions (16-1, 14-0) breeze past California (5-10-1, 5-8-1), 7-1, in Section 1. Wood has 43 goals this season, breaking Jeff Farrell's mark in both the 2002 and '03 seasons.

Top girls' soccer game

• Chartiers Valley (9-5-2, 8-2) pulled a shocker, knocking off top-ranked and previously-unbeaten Moon (14-1, 10-1), 3-2, in Class AAA Section 7. Sophomore Amanda Mazur scored two goals for the Colts, who jumped to a 3-0 lead. Mazur has netted nine of her team's 10 goals over the past three games. Chartiers Valley lost to Moon earlier in the season, 4-0.

"This is absolutely our biggest win of the season, and probably the biggest win of the girls' program since I've been here," said coach Colts coach Aaron Wawrzyniak, who has spent four years at Chartiers Valley, the past two as head coach.