Jerin Steele stories, Page 28
After 17th straight playoff appearance, Pine-Richland girls tennis looks forward to next season
With a young team this fall, Pine-Richland girls tennis coach Jirakorn “Dang” Siraprasert wasn’t sure how the season would go. In the end, the Rams ended up in familiar territory by making the WPIAL team tennis playoffs for the 17th consecutive season. The Rams fell 5-0 to Fox Chapel in...
With new life in race for 2nd place, Riverhounds grind out win over Charleston
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds received the news they hoped for Friday when the USL announced there will be a restart of the game at Miami FC in the 67th minute due to an officiating error that cost them a goal. For that match to matter in the race for a home...
Ligonier Valley pulls out thrilling win vs. Shady Side Academy
Ligonier Valley coach Roger Beitel joked he will need to visit his cardiologist after watching the last 24 seconds of Friday’s game against Shady Side Academy. If the emotions of the final sequence were measured, they probably would look like sharp, jagged lines on a heart monitor. The Rams went...
Alle-Kiski Valley WPIAL soccer playoff capsules: Games of Oct. 23, 2021
Saturday’s games Boys Class 3A 11-Gateway (10-8) at 6-Kiski Area (14-3) at 6:30 p.m. 3 p.m. at Shawn L. Kuhn Memorial Stadium, Vandergrift Winner plays: Winner of 14-Trinity (10-5-2)/3-Franklin Regional (13-3) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (site TBD) The Gators are in the postseason for a second consecutive season after placing...
Alle-Kiski Valley girls athlete of the week: Plum’s Kaitlyn Killinger
Kaitlyn Killinger Class: Junior School: Plum Sport: Soccer Report card: Killinger had a pair of hat tricks last week. Her first one came in a 10-0 win over Penn Hills Tuesday, and she scored all three goals for Plum in a 3-2 win over Oakland Catholic on Thursday. She had...
Alle-Kiski Valley boys athlete of the week: Deer Lakes’ Ryan Hanes
Ryan Hanes Class: Junior School: Deer Lakes Sport: Soccer Report card: Hanes had a hat trick in a 6-0 Lancers win over Derry on Monday. It was his third hat trick of the season and second against Derry. He also registered an assist in a 2-1 win over previously unbeaten...
Pine-Richland girls cross country team rounds into form after spate of injuries
The Pine-Richland girls cross country team has faced some adversity this year with injuries, but it hasn’t dampened the dream of winning WPIAL gold. A big meet win Oct. 9 helped reassure the Rams that they have a team capable of getting the job done. With a fully healthy team...
Pine-Richland girls volleyball team, coach Seman dedicate match to helping youngster in need of kidney transplant
First-year Pine-Richland girls volleyball coach Angela Seman is a huge believer in giving back to the community and wants to pass that trait on to her players. At the same time she is helping a friend and her young son. The Rams hosted an event for 4-year-old Daniel George, who...
Leechburg clinches 1st winning football season in 30 years
Leechburg football crossed a major goal off its list Saturday and did so in dominant fashion. For the first time in 30 years the Blue Devils clinched a winning season with a 71-8 rout of Riverview in a Class A Eastern Conference game on a soggy Saturday afternoon at Riverside...
Greensburg Central Catholic comes up short in upset bid vs. No. 1 Clairton
It’s not often that a team has a chance to win or tie the game late in the fourth quarter on the road at Neil C. Brown Stadium, but that’s the situation Greensburg Central Catholic had Friday night. But one last big play from a Clairton secondary that had its...
A-K Valley girls athlete of the week: Kiski Area’s Eliza Miller
Eliza Miller Class: Sophomore School: Kiski Area Sport: Cross Country Report card: Miller set a Division I, Section 4 meet record with a time of 18 minutes, 57 seconds en route to winning at Northmoreland Park last Wednesday. Her performance helped the Kiski Area girls to a third-place finish in...
Burrell hockey team features deeper roster for 1st-year head coach
When Burrell hockey president Dave Burkett approached Luke Kopchak this summer about becoming the next coach of the Bucs, it didn’t take long for him to decide to jump on the opportunity. Kopchak had coached many of the players on the roster in amateur hockey and was an assistant for...
Freeport enters PIHL season with small roster but high expectations
To put in perspective how young the Freeport hockey team is, consider it will dress more freshmen than seniors every time it takes the ice this season. The Yellowjackets also will be low on numbers with only 11 skaters and two goalies, but coach Kelly Mason isn’t using their youth...
A-K Valley boys athlete of the week: Leechburg’s Gavin Cole
Gavin Cole Class: Senior School: Leechburg Sport: Soccer Report card: Cole had a hat trick in an 8-0 win for Leechburg over Derry last Tuesday. Through nine games, Cole had eight goals and eight assists. He is also the kicker for the Apollo-Ridge football team. Leechburg and Apollo-Ridge have a...
Riverhounds hand Tampa Bay 1st loss since July 31, clinch playoff berth
For goalkeepers, Danny Vitiello likens penalty kicks to playing the lottery. If that’s the case, then Vitiello hit the jackpot Sunday night. With the Riverhounds holding a one-goal lead in the 57th minute, Vitiello stared down Tampa Bay’s Leo Fernandes and then dove to his right to make a save...
Pine-Richland girls volleyball navigates tough schedule, remains in playoff hunt
Angela Seman played for four years in Section 1-4A with Seneca Valley, and now as the coach at Pine-Richland, she is getting a different perspective. One thing that remains the same? It is uber-competitive. The section features the top two teams in Class 4A, Shaler and North Allegheny, as well...
Senior captains help Pine-Richland field hockey adjust to pressure of favorite status
When describing how Pine-Richland field hockey was able to grind out a 1-0 win over Peters Township earlier this year, midfielder Fiona Kortyna said her team has the ability to keep going no matter what. That’s true in the micro sense of one match, but it’s also apt for the...
A-K Valley girls athlete of the week: Knoch’s Yumiko Kuo
Yumiko Kuo Class: Senior School: Knoch Sport: Cross Country Report card: Kuo posted a time of 22 minutes, 13 seconds and won by 7 seconds at a tri-meet with Riverview and Freeport on Sept. 28, in Oakmont. She helped the Knoch girls win the tri-meet and move to 8-0. She...
Kiski Area boys soccer team taking strides toward what it hopes will be a favorable playoff seed
Missions to Mars had not been successful for the Kiski Area boys soccer team in recent years. The last three times the Cavaliers had played at Mars Athletic Complex, two against the Fightin’ Planets and a playoff game, they were unable to score. That changed Sept. 21. The Cavaliers trailed...
AK Valley Boys Athlete of the Week: Isaac Wetzel, Freeport soccer
Isaac Wetzel Class: Junior School: Freeport Sport: Soccer Report card: Wetzel scored a pair of goals to lead Freeport to a 2-0 win over Highlands last Wednesday. Through nine games, Wetzel had a team-leading 10 goals and five assists. He recently joined the Yellowjackets’ football team as a kicker. How...
Early competition helps Knoch boys soccer prepare for playoff push
The Knoch boys soccer team entered this season as a rather inexperienced group, but what they lack in seasoning they have made up for with effort. That’s put the Knights in a lot of close games. Entering Saturday’s match with Highlands, six of Knoch’s 11 games were decided by one...
Pine-Richland hockey team ready to join crowded chase for Penguins Cup
Last year, PIHL Class 3A featured a lot of parity with the top five teams separated by four points at the end of the regular season and No. 7 seed Mt. Lebanon making a run in the playoffs to the championship game. Pine-Richland coach Jordan Yoklic expects more of the...
Pine-Richland pair showing chemistry, having breakout seasons
Dating to their youth football days, Cole Boyd and Alex Gochis said they’ve always had chemistry as a quarterback and receiver combo. Through the years, they’ve continued to build on it through work both in practice and on their own time. They’ve had to wait their turn to showcase what...
Central Catholic defense dominates in victory over Seneca Valley
There is a litany of players with NCAA Division I offers on the Central Catholic defense, and those players showed why they are going to play at that level Friday night. The Vikings forced four turnovers in the first quarter that led to four touchdowns in a 35-0 rout of...
Highlands girls volleyball nets long-awaited victory
Over the last couple of weeks Highlands girls volleyball coach Caroline Bain could sense her team was on the cusp of breaking through. When her players walked into the gym Thursday night with a confident look in their eyes it affirmed her belief. “They just came in and said they...
