Michael Love stories, Page 104
Defensive effort guides Gateway in opening-round win
Survive and advance. That is statement often uttered when it comes to WPIAL playoff football. Gateway followed that mantra against Penn Hills in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs Oct. 30 at Antimarino Stadium. While the offense was held below its four-game regular-season average of 40 points, the...
Penn-Trafford beats Fox Chapel for WPIAL field hockey title
The Penn-Trafford field hockey team is champion again. The Warriors remained perfect on the season and claimed their fifth straight WPIAL Class 2A field hockey title with a 2-1 victory over Fox Chapel on Nov. 2 at a chilly Burk Stadium at Fox Chapel High School. “It’s really exciting,” Penn-Trafford...
A-K Valley high school football notebook: Semifinal loss ends historic season for Plum
Plum wrapped up its 2020 season Friday with a 20-17 loss to Thomas Jefferson in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals, but the one defeat, Mustangs coach Matt Morgan said, takes nothing away from the record-setting performance of his team the entire season. Plum (8-1) won eight games in a season...
Mars captures 7th WPIAL girls soccer title
The Mars girls soccer team is golden again. The Fightin’ Planets won the seventh WPIAL title in program history and their second in as many seasons with a 1-0 victory over Plum in the Class 3A final Saturday at North Allegheny. “I think if anyone tells you it gets old,...
Success on home field propels Plum girls soccer into WPIAL finals
As the No. 2 seed for the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs, the Plum girls soccer team enjoyed the comforts of home as it made its run to a second consecutive championship game appearance. Plum outscored its three playoff opponents — No. 15 Gateway, No. 7 Thomas Jefferson and No. 6...
Season of statements for Plum football
Preston Sunday said Plum football’s WPIAL Class 4A first-round victory over former conference rival McKeesport was big in the ongoing process of what has turned out to be one of the most successful seasons in program history. But the Mustangs senior running back and linebacker didn’t characterize the victory as...
Thomas Jefferson rallies past Plum to return to Class 4A championship gameVideo
Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak breathed a sigh of relief in the minutes after Friday’s 20-17 home victory over Plum in a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal. The Jaguars rallied from a 10-point first-half deficit and held the Mustangs off the scoreboard in the second half. “This time of the year,...
WPIAL Class 3A girls soccer championship preview: No. 1 Mars vs. No. 2 Plum
Class 3A Championship 2-Plum (16-0) vs. 1-Mars (15-0) Noon, Saturday, Newman Stadium, North Allegheny HS, McCandless Township Coaches: Jamie Stewart, Plum; Blair Gerlach, Mars How they got here: Plum defeated Gateway, 6-0; Thomas Jefferson, 4-0; and West Allegheny, 1-0. Mars defeated Laurel Highlands, 13-0; Oakland Catholic, 6-0; and Montour, 6-0....
Knoch’s Mike Formica has high expectations for PIAA championship meet
Mike Formica stood on the top of the mountain Oct. 28 at White Oak Park as the newly crowned WPIAL Class 2A boys cross country champion. Now, the Knoch senior hopes to cap his high school career with one final solid run Saturday at the PIAA championships in Hershey. “I...
Plum girls soccer faces toughest task yet: A WPIAL finals rematch with unbeaten Mars
Before the Plum girls soccer team began the season Sept. 14, it assembled a collection of goals. It contained a series of steps, including returning to the top of the Section 3-3A standings and finishing the regular-season undefeated. Both of those boxes were checked. Then, the focus turned to a...
Deer Lakes edges Shady Side Academy in penalty kick thriller, wins first WPIAL title
The Deer Lakes and Shady Side Academy boys soccer teams were all knotted up in head-to-head matches over the past four years as they met Thursday to decide the WPIAL Class 2A boys championship. The teams split their season series with Shady Side winning the first and Deer Lakes the...
A-K Valley football players to watch for Week 9
Zach Fields Plum, sr., WR/DB The Mustangs defense turned McKeesport over five times in last week’s WPIAL Class 4A first-round win. Fields produced two of those turnovers with a pair of interceptions, giving him three picks on the season. He added seven tackles, increasing his total to 30. Max Matolcsy...
Plum focused on current Thomas Jefferson team, not Jaguars’ past success
The Plum football team Friday will play its first WPIAL semifinal game since 1996. On the other sideline will be Thomas Jefferson, the defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 4A champion that owns eight WPIAL and four PIAA crowns since 2004. The Jaguars have made at least the WPIAL semifinals every...
Plum girls soccer reaches Class 3A finals with another 1-0 win over West Allegheny
It was déjà vu for the Plum girls soccer team. For the second year in a row, the Mustangs topped West Allegheny, 1-0, in a WPIAL Class 3A semifinal. With Wednesday’s home victory, they now will get another crack at winning the program’s first WPIAL championship. “There’s literally no better...
WPIAL singles, doubles champions to begin quest for state titles
The PIAA singles and doubles tennis tournaments kick off Wednesday for the four WPIAL champions at the Oxford Athletic Club in Wexford. All four quarterfinals matches are set to begin at 11:30 a.m. Knoch senior Laura Greb, the four-time WPIAL Class AA singles champion, opens against District 6 champion Alyssa...
Penn-Trafford beats Fox Chapel for WPIAL field hockey titleVideo
The Penn-Trafford field hockey team is champion again. The Warriors remained perfect on the season and claimed their fifth straight WPIAL Class 2A field hockey title with a 2-1 victory over Fox Chapel on Monday at a chilly Burk Stadium at Fox Chapel High School. “It’s really exciting,” Penn-Trafford coach...
Shady Side Academy edges rival Ellis School, wins 3rd straight WPIAL field hockey title
Shady Side Academy and Ellis School are no strangers in battling for a WPIAL field hockey championship. The teams met for the seventh consecutive time in the finals, including each of the five Class A matchups since the WPIAL expanded to three classifications in 2016. Monday’s title contest at a...
Gateway graduate JaQuan Brisker making impact in Penn State secondary
While Penn State football’s season opener against Indiana on Oct. 24 didn’t go as planned, the Nittany Lions players, including Gateway graduate JaQuan Brisker, were happy to be back on the field competing. The Big Ten announced in August it was cancelling its 2020 football schedule because of covid-19 concerns....
Successful season flies by for Gateway girls soccer
Gateway girls soccer coach Kelly Bender said the 2020 season for her players went by in a flash. With the season already compacted because of the covid-19 pandemic, virus issues specific to the Gateway School District halted practices and games for the Gators in late September. That created a busy...
A-K Valley high school football notes: Springdale succumbs to grueling schedule
Not many teams get the chance to say they faced the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 teams in their respective classification in one season. That was the case for Springdale this year. The Dynamos led No. 3 Jeannette for most of their Eastern Conference matchup before losing 36-28,...
Despite missing out on trip to state meet, Riverview boys proud of 2nd-place finish
Under normal WPIAL cross country circumstances, the Riverview boys team would be heading to Hershey this weekend to compete with the best in the state. But when the PIAA announced new qualifying parameters amid the coronavirus pandemic, it created a unique situation where only the district champions would qualify. Riverview,...
Plum slowpitch softball excited for future
The Plum slowpitch softball team was unable to solve second-seeded Seneca Valley in a Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League quarterfinal Oct. 24 at Mt. Lebanon. The Mustangs reached that point with a first-round victory over West Allegheny, but the Raiders ended Plum’s season with a 15-5 win. “We had a...
Plum shuts down McKeesport to reach first WPIAL semifinal since 1996
The Plum and McKeesport football teams were no strangers to each other when they met Friday at Plum’s Mustangs Stadium for a berth in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals. The Tigers and Mustangs clashed for the eighth time in the past 10 years. The latest meeting was one of the...
Alle-Kiski Valley WPIAL soccer playoff preview capsules: Oct. 31
Boys Class 4A quarterfinals 5-Upper St. Clair (8-5-1) at 4-Fox Chapel (10-3) Noon, Saturday, Fox Chapel Stadium, Fox Chapel Winner plays: Winner of 9-Baldwin (8-6-1) at 1-Peters Township (11-1-1) in semifinals Wednesday, Nov. 4, 6:30 p.m. at a site to be determined. Hat tricks: Two of Fox Chapel’s losses came...
Two fall sports doesn’t slow Burrell’s Brockett
Leah Brockett has logged a lot of miles this fall. As the top runner on the Burrell girls cross country team and one of the leading scorers on the soccer team, the freshman has made an impact while balancing both sports with her academic work load. Brockett hopes to put...
