Jerin Steele stories, Page 42
Cook, Ringgold edge No. 1 Burrell to claim PIHL Division II championship
With the score tied in the third period, Burrell had the ice tilted in its favor and fired a bunch of shots on goal, but Ringgold goalie Evan Cook answered each time. When the Rams finally got some sustained pressure late in the period, Justin Day made sure it would...
Penn-Trafford baseball sets sights on winning section championship
There isn’t any question that Penn-Trafford baseball lost some talented players to graduation with all five departed seniors going on to play in college. The good news, however, is that a deep team chock-full of varsity experience returns and is ready to shoulder the load. Josh Spiegel (Oklahoma State), Zach...
PIHL Penguins Cup Class AAA finals preview: Peters Township vs. North Allegheny
PIHL Penguins Cup Class AAA Championship Peters Township (16-3-1) vs. North Allegheny (16-4) 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, Cranberry How they got here: Peters Township: def. Mt. Lebanon, 3-2, in double overtime in the semifinals and def. Canon-McMillan, 3-0, in the quarterfinals. North Allegheny: def. Bethel Park,...
PIHL Penguins Cup Class A finals preview: Montour vs. South Fayette
PIHL Penguins Cup Class A championship Montour (20-1) vs. South Fayette (19-2) 6 p.m. Tuesday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, Cranberry How they got here: Montour: def. Thomas Jefferson, 6-5, in overtime in the semifinals; def. South Park, 6-3, in the quarterfinals; and def. Greensburg Salem, 14-1, in the first...
Penn-Trafford softball prepares for tough section slate in Class 5A
When new alignments came out, Penn-Trafford softball coach Denny Little looked at who was going to be in the Warriors’ section and came to a quick conclusion. “Someone isn’t going to be happy at the end of the season,” he said. With Class 6A runner-up Latrobe and Class 5A playoff...
PIHL playoff capsule: Pine-Richland vs. Upper St. Clair
PIHL Penguins Cup Class AA Championship Pine-Richland (20-0-1) vs. Upper St. Clair (16-3-2) 8:30 p.m. Monday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex How they got here: Pine-Richland: def. Latrobe, 5-2, in the semifinals and Hempfield, 8-4, in the quarterfinals. Upper St. Clair: def. Franklin Regional, 9-8, in overtime in the semifinals...
Tshiebwe, Kennedy Catholic use 2nd-half surge to oust Pine-Richland in PIAA 2nd round
For a half, Pine-Richland controlled the pace with a slow down offense and shot well enough from beyond the arc to go into halftime down only five to Class 6A’s No. 1 team, Kennedy Catholic. But eventually the size advantage and overall strength of the Eagles, led by 6-foot-9 West...
PIHL Class AA Penguins Cup semifinals preview capsules
Class AA semifinals Latrobe (15-4-1) vs. Pine-Richland (19-0-1) 7 p.m. Wednesday at RMU Island Sports Center, Neville Island Winner plays: Franklin Regional (12-6-1) or Upper St. Clair (15-3-2) at 8:30 p.m. March 18 at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, Cranberry Township Goals for/against: Latrobe, 92/41; Pine-Richland, 120/36 About Latrobe: Latrobe had...
Gateway’s Whiteside, Hanisak gain experience at WPIAL championships
Gateway coach Ryan Sula saw improvement from Evan Whiteside in every area of his wrestling, but the one thing that stood out the most was the growing confidence in his 113-pound junior. A specific example came after a tough 11-2 major decision loss to Latrobe’s Marino Angelicchio in the third-place...
Plum’s Citrano, Stecik cap season at WPIAL wrestling championships
As a freshman this year, Plum’s Vinny Citrano believed in himself every time he stepped on a mat, and it showed in his results. But before his first match at the WPIAL individual championships Feb. 28, the magnitude of the event set in. “There were definitely some butterflies in my...
Stewart’s 7 points lead Burrell to PIHL Division II 1st-round victory over Trinity
After Tyler Stewart skated around three Trinity players before depositing the puck into the back of the net for his fifth goal of the game midway through the third period, Burrell hockey coach Max Rickard said he looked at one of his assistant coaches and just shook his head. Even...
Chartiers Valley’s McConnells combine for another WPIAL title — this time girls
Tim McConnell thought back to eight years ago when he said someone made a comment to him that one day he’d coach his daughter, Megan. “I told them I would never coach girls basketball,” he said. He’s glad he was wrong. In his first season as the Colts girls coach,...
Strong 3rd period guides Hempfield past Quaker Valley in PIHL Penguins Cup playoffs
Hempfield controlled zone time, puck possession and outshot Quaker Valley by 26 shots through the first two periods, but due to giving up some odd-man breaks, the Spartans found themselves with only a one-goal lead heading into the intermission. During the break, Spartans coach Denny Zeravica told his players to...
Lincoln Park returning to WPIAL title game after defeating Seton LaSalle in Class 3A semifinals
After Seton LaSalle had a good second quarter to cut its deficit to seven points going into halftime, Lincoln Park coach Mike Bariski said he gave his team a brief history lesson on what can happen if you let an opponent keep the game close. His players responded by running...
Last second putback helps top-seeded Pine-Richland survive Peters Township’s upset bid
After Pine-Richland coach Jeff Ackermann finished his instructions for an inbounds play during a time out with the score tied and five seconds remaining, Colin Luellen reminded everyone to go hard for the rebound if there was a missed shot. Luellen followed his own advice and found a rebound to...
No. 3 Quaker Valley boys hold off Knoch in Class 4A quarterfinal victory
With his team down 15 points with five and a half minutes remaining, Knoch coach Ron McNabb didn’t see any panic in his players’ eyes. What he saw was determination, and the Knights did their best to put a scare into No. 3 Quaker Valley in the final moments, but...
Michael Carmody’s double-double carries No. 1 Mars past Shaler in Class 5A quarterfinals
Michael Carmody’s future in college athletics is likely as an offensive lineman in football, but Friday night he showed he can do plenty of damage on a basketball court with his 6-foot-7, 270-pound frame. Carmody had 23 points and 30 rebounds to lead top-seeded Mars to a 74-52 victory over...
Spirnak lifts No. 5 Elizabeth Forward past upset-minded Quaker Valley in quarterfinals
With Quaker Valley pushing Elizabeth Forward to the edge late in the fourth quarter, Bri Spirnak did what she had been doing all game: She stayed tough and found a way to score. The No. 13-seeded Quakers cut the lead to three points on two occasions with less than two...
Knoch displays versatility, rolls past South Park in 1st round
Knoch has displayed an ability and willingness to get out and run the floor a little more than it has in the past, and that continued in a big way in the playoffs Wednesday night. That transition game coupled with a defensive tenacity that has been the hallmark of Ron...
South Side Beaver girls use 3rd-quarter surge to take down Riverview in 1st round
Riverview did pretty much everything a lower-seeded team would want to do in the first half. The Raiders came out and shot well. They held the lead for a while and got to halftime tied. But on the other side of the court was a South Side Beaver team determined...
Rough stretch of losses keeps Penn-Trafford hockey out of postseason
After going through a difficult five-game losing streak that put postseason aspirations on thin ice, a 4-3 win over Latrobe on Monday provided the Penn-Trafford hockey team a brief moment of hope. For a couple hours the Warriors kept their playoff chances alive, but they were eliminated later in the...
Burrell’s young gymnasts ready for WPIAL championships
Rene Ruggeri took over the Burrell gymnastics team in October and posted a tryout to see who would come out for the team shortly after opening a new gym in Lower Burrell. The Bucs had only three gymnasts last year, and one of them, Taylor Johnson, a 2018 WPIAL champion,...
Cheswick’s Liberati brothers hope to climb hockey ranks together
Cheswick natives and brothers Miles and Mario Liberati carved out different careers in hockey. Miles is a professional player in the ECHL, and Mario works on the business side. A few weeks ago, their careers came together. Mario received a job offer with 85 Sports Management, a startup hockey player...
Franklin Regional grad Jamie Mauro leading ACHA Division I hockey in scoring
A couple of weeks into the season, Jamie Mauro said Slippery Rock hockey coach Dave Grimm broke the news to him that he was leading all of ACHA Division I in scoring. Since then curiosity has got to Mauro, so he checks the ACHA website every now and then to...
