Jerin Steele stories, Page 2
Fox Chapel senior gets world class soccer education spending season with Riverhounds
What started with a surprise announcement during a Pittsburgh Riverhounds team meeting has turned into a season-long endeavor of valuable lessons for Fox Chapel senior Pablo Linzoain. Linzoain signed a USL Academy Contract in May and has been training with the first team full time ever since. Like many academy...
Shady Side Academy doubles team finds instant chemistry
Brooke Henderson and Alex Merkel met for the first time in the summer when they both joined the Shady Side Academy girls tennis team. Judging by their results, one would assume they’ve been playing together for a long time. Henderson and Merkel, who are both freshmen, were the runners up...
After claiming Northeast Conference title, Pine-Richland turns attention toward WPIAL playoffs
The road to a third consecutive appearance in the WPIAL Class 5A championship started with another conference title for the Pine-Richland football team. A 31-21 win over Penn Hills on Oct. 4 clinched the Northeast Conference crown, and the Rams aimed to complete a perfect 5-0 record in conference play...
Imani Christian routs Freeport in regular-season finale
Using some explosive plays on both offense and defense, Imani Christian cemented an outright Allegheny 7 Conference championship and likely the top seed in the Class 3A playoffs. In a span of four minutes in the second quarter, the Saints scored two long touchdowns on offense and had a score...
Freshman’s goal in final minutes of overtime sends Plum past Moon in WPIAL quarterfinals
Keirstin Curry said she couldn’t have hit a better shot. It couldn’t have come at a better time. Moments after coming on as a substitute in double overtime, Curry got a little bit of space and ripped a shot from 30 yards into the top of the net to give...
Freeport volleyball takes care of business vs. Ringgold
The Freeport girls volleyball team saw its 19-year run as a section champion come to an end this year, but it quickly turned the page. Now the focus is on the pursuit of getting to another WPIAL final. The sixth-seeded Yellowjackets started their journey with a 3-0 victory over No....
Pine-Richland girls hold off Latrobe to win 1st playoff game since 2018
It got a little tense at the end, but the Pine-Richland girls soccer team broke a six-year playoff victory drought. The eighth-seeded Rams scored four consecutive goals to build a lead but had to stave off a late rally by No. 9 Latrobe to earn a 4-3 win in the...
Young roster drives Shady Side Academy boys soccer to another playoff season
When the calendar gets to the end of October and the WPIAL playoff brackets are released, it seems every year the Shady Side Academy boys soccer team answers the bell. The Bulldogs have been in the semifinals six out of the last 10 years, made the finals four times and...
New coach, 25, looks to keep Fox Chapel hockey program humming
Seven years ago, Ryan Loebig was a key member of the Plum hockey team that won the 2017 Class 2A Penguins Cup. Now he’s looking to lead Fox Chapel toward achieving the same goal as a coach. Loebig spent the last two years as the coach of the Foxes’ junior...
Backup QB leads Woodland Hills to win over Franklin Regional, 1st section title since 2009
Woodland Hills coach Brian Tarrant had tears in his eyes as he hugged his players and assistant coaches. They were tears of joy, because a vision he had for the program was completed. Scoop Smith scored three touchdowns, and backup quarterback Prince Tarrant put in a gutsy effort to help...
St. Joseph volleyball tops Apollo-Ridge, caps historic regular season with unbeaten section record
The St. Joseph girls volleyball team already knew it had won its first section championship before taking the floor Thursday night. One question remaining was if the Spartans could finish the Section 1-A slate unbeaten. It took fighting off a spirited effort from Apollo-Ridge, but they got the job done....
Quick start helps Riverhounds beat Charleston, improve playoff hopes
In a match they desperately needed, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds came out on the front foot Saturday night at Highmark Stadium and took control. And now they’ll have a compelling final two weeks of the season. Edward Kizza scored in the second minute and Robbie Mertz added another goal 18 minutes...
Freshman WPIAL champ, improving veteran players form backbone of Shady Side Academy girls golf team
There were many proud moments this year for Shady Side Academy girls golf coach Betsy Thompson. Watching a young freshman like Alyssa Zhang build the confidence to become a WPIAL champion was certainly on the list. But seeing juniors Nora Bryan and Ariyah Nahata step up to become leaders and...
Senior leaders set Shady Side Academy boys golf on right course for big season
It has been a season of success, both individually and as a team, for Shady Side Academy boys golf. The Bulldogs won a section title, advanced to the WPIAL Class 2A team final and sent two individuals, Landon Mauser and Alex Avi, to states. For Bulldogs coach David Lieberman, all...
Deer Lakes’ Sullivan playing all over pitch for No. 1 Pitt soccer
Michael Sullivan scored his first goal for the top-ranked Pitt men’s soccer team this week in a big game against another top-10 team in Denver, and though that was a big moment, it’s only a small part of what he’s contributing. Sullivan’s greatest asset to the Panthers has been his...
Freeport spoils Highlands homecoming with conference win
A few weeks ago, Freeport coach John Gaillot started seeing his defense hit like the team a couple years ago that won a conference championship. On Friday, the Yellowjackets defense exceeded even Gaillot’s expectations. The Yellowjackets had five sacks and forced a pair turnovers to spoil Highlands’ homecoming with a...
Freeport boys fight through injuries to stay in playoff hunt
The phrase “next man up” is used by many teams as a rallying cry, but the Freeport boys soccer team has had to manage more bumps and bruises than most. A total of 19 players have been in the starting lineup because of injuries forcing some shuffling around, but there’s...
Pittsburgher 100 returns with larger purse at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway
The Pittsburgher 100 has been on the dirt racing calendar for 36 years, but the goal for a new ownership group at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Imperial is to put the event back on the map. The new owners, Blair and Tabby Cress, are doing so by making this...
Pine-Richland senior finds scoring touch, leads boys soccer team into playoff contention
Being a senior, Finn Kichi knew this season at Pine-Richland was his final opportunity to prove what he can do on a soccer field. What he’s shown is that he can be a prolific finisher. Kichi had 11 goals in Pine-Richland’s first 10 games, which put him in the top...
Pine-Richland girls golfers celebrate section title after win in finale
Before the season started, Jared Slimm took a picture of the Pine-Richland girls golf banner in the gymnasium and shared it with his players. “The only year on there was 2016,” Slimm said. “Our overall team goal this year was to put another year on there.” It came down to...
Riverhounds’ playoff hopes take hit in draw with Birmingham
To get to the 48 points coach Bob Lilley has forecasted as a benchmark to get into the postseason, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds needed four wins and a draw in their last five games. Well, the Hounds used up that draw early by squandering a lead. A second-half goal by Birmingham...
Unbeaten Deer Lakes continues historic start with comeback victory over Highlands
Deer Lakes keeps making history. This historic night, though, came from lessons of the past. Trailing by 13 points at halftime may have been too much to overcome for a Lancers team five or so years ago, but on this night, there wasn’t a deer-in-the headlights look. Instead, led by...
Despite bump up to Class 4A, Plum boys soccer again among title contenders
With only three returning starters and a move up from Class 3A to 4A, it was a bit unknown coming into the season how the Plum boys soccer team would adjust. Through the first half of section play, it’s gone pretty well. The Mustangs have built on their recent history...
Mars girls volleyball sweeps stalwart Freeport
A program on the rise was up against one of the established favorites in girls volleyball when Mars hosted Freeport on Tuesday night, and the Fightin’ Planets showed they are a force with which to be reckoned. Mars built big leads early in sets and went on to secure a...
Shady Side Academy outscores young, penalty-prone Apollo-Ridge
A week that started with the coach resigning ended with a victory for the Shady Side Academy football team. The Bulldogs defeated Class 2A Allegheny conference foe Apollo-Ridge, 40-32, on Saturday afternoon at their annual homecoming game at Michael J. Farrell Stadium. Chuck DiNardo, who had coached the Bulldogs for...
