Josh Rizzo stories, Page 42

Shaler Area sophomore runner Tyler Paszkowski was happy to have an opportunity to run in the PIAA Class AAA cross country championships earlier this month in Hershey. For the first-time state qualifier, it was an opportunity for him to take everything in. One thing that stood out was the speed....

Once the Class 5A football playoffs started, things got ugly for the WPIAL’s Northern Conference. While the conference had the most playoff participants, as Fox Chapel snagged the wild card, only Penn Hills remained after the smoke cleared. The other five teams lost by a combined margin of 28.6 points...

Facing a team with more experience in the PIAA Class AAA playoffs wasn’t a big issue for the North Allegheny girls soccer program. If the Tigers lined up against any program, they would have approached things the same way. North Allegheny took 85 minutes, but ultimately found the back of...

Seeing a 65-match losing streak end wasn’t ideal for North Allegheny girls volleyball coach Heidi Miller. It wasn’t a crushing blow for the Tigers, either. North Allegheny, which dropped a five-set match to Canon-McMillan in the WPIAL Class AAAA finals, bounced back in the first round of the PIAA tournament...

Tyler Paszkowski, Dalton Kalbaugh and Samantha Hennen have developed into great examples for Shaler Area cross country coach Justin Eskra. Put time and effort into the sport and future Titans can follow their lead. The trio made a big splash at the WPIAL Class AAA cross country championships, turning in...

The Shaler Area girls volleyball team didn’t concede much ground to Canon-McMillan during the WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals last Tuesday night in Canonsburg. While the host and third-seeded Big Macs were able to complete a 3-0 sweep of the sixth-seeded Titans, Canon-McMillan had to work in every set. Shaler lost...

Neco Brett’s goal in the 71st minute was one of many indelible moments created by the Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Saturday night at Highmark Stadium. The Riverhounds ended a 15-year drought without a playoff victory in style, crushing 10th-seeded Birmingham Legion, 7-0, in the USL Championship Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Brett, a...

Keeping track and making sense of the WPIAL’s Class 5A Northern Conference football standings required a lot of extra attention. Other than the two teams at the top, Penn Hills and North Hills, and the one at the bottom, Armstrong, the other five teams have flip-flopped nearly every week. Shaler...

Pointing out a 63-match winning streak for the North Allegheny girls volleyball program somehow feels like underselling the Tigers’ story. The two-time defending PIAA and WPIAL Class AAA champions have labored to stack up victories. When the undefeated, top-seeded Tigers opened the playoffs Oct. 28 against Seneca Valley, they earned...

Dealing with the nerves of being in a playoff match didn’t seem to rattle the Shaler Area girls volleyball program. Opening the WPIAL Class AAA tournament with a 3-0 sweep of Penn-Trafford fit with the narrative the Titans have tried to build around the program. “We played a calm, but...

Knocking down every obstacle on the way to a Section 1-AAAA crown wasn’t a one-year process for the North Allegheny girls soccer program. The Tigers, who wrapped up their first-ever unbeaten section record by beating North Hills 8-1 on Oct. 14 at Newman Stadium, have been working toward this for...

Sticking together was the most important concept for the Shaler Area girls soccer team this season. Not a lot of things went right for the Titans. When Ashley Venezia scored Oct. 10 in Shaler’s 1-0 win over North Hills at Martorelli Stadium, it was a big lift. Jocelyn Schwartz made...

If everything breaks a certain way, Shaler Area boys soccer coach Adam Hunter could see the program dropping to Class AAA when the WPIAL determines the next two-year enrollment cycle in November. Even if the Titans have to stay up and trade punches with the AAAA heavyweights, Hunter believes how...

Isabella Walter continued the legacy of North Allegheny girls golf program by putting in overtime. Fortunately for the Tigers senior golfer, she was well-equipped for a playoff. Walter won the Class AAA championship Oct. 2 at Diamond Run Golf Course by winning a two-hole playoff with Fox Chapel’s Nina Busch....

Developing a more unpredictable offense was the focus for the Shaler Area girls volleyball team. The Titans didn’t have one standout hitter who would carry the offense. Developing a diversified approach took time but led to Shaler putting together a winning streak that culminated in a WPIAL Class 4A playoff...

Shaler Area senior running back Jake Miller appreciates how the Titans handle adversity. While there have been bumps in the road for the Titans, Shaler has found ways to bounce back. Most recently, the Titans rebounded from a Northern Conference loss to Mars by pasting Armstrong, 46-13, on Oct. 4....

Emily Karr wasn’t sure what to expect after a year away from the North Catholic girls soccer program. Karr had an idea of what she wanted the Trojanettes to do when she returned as coach. “I went into the season with the style I like to play,” Karr said. “We...

Tom Sorce would have liked it if the Shaler Area softball team started the season right after the Battle of the Boulevard Tournament ended last week. The Titans coach was pleased with what he saw from the team at the event hosted by Avonworth. Shaler lost once, a 4-2 decision...

Shaler Area hockey coach Steve Stayduhar enjoyed this offseason much more than the last one. Instead of worrying about how he would would guide a Titans’ roster which lacked numbers or experience, Stayduhar was able to work on more complex subjects. Some of those intricacies showed up in Shaler’s opener,...

Mike Bagnato has 23 players who he considers varsity performers. The North Allegheny coach has all the members of that group practice together, attend team functions and train to help form the program’s culture. During the Tigers’ season-opener Oct. 10 against Mt. Lebanon at the Baierl Ice Complex, three members...

Brett Poirier’s time as interim coach of the Seneca Valley girls volleyball team came following an interesting season for the Raiders. For the first time in Poirier’s seven seasons with the program, Seneca Valley missed the playoffs last year. Poirier, who is serving as interim coach as Karen Martini recovers...

The Shaler Area girls golf team isn’t a program that will have to do much soul searching after this season. Second-year Titans coach David Lapmarado already has players willing to give back after the best season in program history. “I’ve had interest from the seniors, Darian Lees and Dana Wolf,...

Justin Eskra has tried to carefully build up several Shaler Area athletes to make a run for qualifying for the PIAA Class AAA championships. By altering training, entering new races and setting up specific workout plans, the school’s cross country coach wanted to make sure everyone was on the right...

Kayli Hannan’s second go-round as the Shaler Area girls tennis team’s top singles player hasn’t lacked for excitement. After being moved into the role midway through last season, the Titans senior has endured a ferocious learning curve. Hannan leaned on her experience during the Section 3-AAA singles tournament last week...

For the North Allegheny cross country team, competing at the PIAA Foundation Meet is a nice primer for a program that always has high expectations. Last season, North Allegheny won the meet at the Hershey Parkview cross country site and went on to become the first program in PIAA history...