Michael Love stories, Page 19
Saints march on to WPIAL semifinals after rallying past No. 9 Highlands
Imani Christian is moving on. And it took a big rally for the No. 1 Saints to do it. Down 14 at halftime to No. 9 Highlands and shut out on the scoreboard, Imani came all the way back to score a 31-17 victory in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 11
Player of the week Jahmar Wright Highlands, jr., WR/DB Wright was right on both sides of the ball for the Golden Rams in last Friday’s WPIAL Class 3A first-round win at Southmoreland. He caught two passes from Menage Lucas for 55 yards. One of the catches was for 33 yards...
Semifinal berth on the line in rematch between Highlands, Imani Christian
Points were at an unexpected premium when Imani Christian and Highlands met at Wilkinsburg’s Graham Field on Sept. 20. Heading into the game, the Golden Rams were averaging 51.3 points, and the Saints were putting up 41.7 a contest. But it ended up being a defensive battle the whole way....
Springdale pulls out shootout win over Conemaugh Township in PIAA 1st round
The Conemaugh Township girls soccer team made a 90-minute trek west to Fox Chapel on Tuesday with the hopes of upending WPIAL champion Springdale. But the Dynamos didn’t allow the District 5 runner-up Indians the opportunity to come away with the PIAA Class A first-round win. In a game that...
Gateway runners gain experience at WPIAL championship meet
Piper Munyon ran on the White Oak Park cross country course for the first time Oct. 17 at the Tri-State Coaches Association championships. The Gateway freshman completed her race that day in 20 minutes, 22.33 seconds and placed 36th out of all of the WPIAL runners in the Class 3A...
Tough finish to regular season keeps Gateway out of WPIAL playoffs
Woodland Hills, Franklin Regional and Penn-Trafford finished as the top three teams in the Class 5A Big East Conference, and they earned the three automatic bids from the conference to the WPIAL playoffs which began last Friday. That left the three teams tied for fourth — Gateway, Kiski Area and...
A-K Valley football notebook: Highlands gets rematch with top-seeded Imani Christian
When the WPIAL football pairings for Class 3A came out last Saturday, Highlands players and coaches saw that there was the potential for a rematch with No. 1 Imani Christian in the quarterfinals. But to get that chance, they had to take care of business against Southmoreland in the first...
No. 2 Quaker Valley edges Burrell for 3rd WPIAL girls soccer crown
It had been 32 years since a Quaker Valley girls soccer team had won a WPIAL championship. The wait for the Quakers to hoist the title trophy again came to an end Saturday. Sophomore Anabel Miko and freshman Lily Baker scored goals in the second half for Class 2A No....
Riverview girls soccer caps season in WPIAL quarterfinals
With one WPIAL Class A playoff victory under its belt, the Riverview girls soccer team hoped for more when it tangled with No. 2 Seton-La Salle in a quarterfinal contest Oct. 26 at Dormont Stadium. Raiders coach Sean Abraham said his team was ready for the challenge, but in the...
Plum’s Wes Lorish caps decorated high school career at PIAA golf tournament
Wes Lorish had high hopes for his final PIAA Class 3A individual championship tournament. The Plum senior sought gold after losing out on the title in a tiebreaker last year. But despite his best efforts, he was not able to get to where he wanted to be during the two-day...
Drew Ross accounts for 5 TDs as Freeport returns to playoffs by beating Mt. Pleasant
Freeport made an impactful return to the WPIAL playoffs Friday. After a one-year postseason hiatus, the Yellowjackets returned to the WPIAL quarterfinals by rolling past Mt. Pleasant, 44-20, in a Class 3A first-round matchup at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. “I am really proud of the kids, especially from where we...
Fox Chapel, South Fayette both vying to defend WPIAL girls soccer titles
When the Fox Chapel and South Fayette girls soccer teams meet for the WPIAL Class 3A championship Saturday afternoon at Highmark Stadium, a back-to-back champion is guaranteed to be crowned. The Foxes (18-2-1) made a magical run last year as the No. 6 seed in the Class 4A bracket and...
No. 9 Burrell looks to cap run of upsets with 1st WPIAL girls soccer title
The Burrell girls soccer team made history Tuesday with its dramatic, down-to-the-wire WPIAL Class 2A semifinal victory over South Park at North Allegheny. The 3-2 win put the ninth-seeded Bucs in the WPIAL title game for the first time in program history. Burrell (14-5-1) has the chance to add on...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 10
Player of the week Jake Fleischer Deer Lakes, sr., QB After making his varsity starting debut in Week Zero and helping lead the Lancers to a tie for the most wins — eight — in a single season in program history, Fleischer will get his first chance to perform in...
Freeport faces familiar challenge against Mt. Pleasant in opening round of playoffs
The Mt. Pleasant and Freeport football teams are no strangers to one other. The Vikings and Yellowjackets met as nonconference foes the past two seasons and as members of the same conference as recently as 2019. The teams again will be back together on the same field Friday evening in...
A-K Valley schools to be well-represented at WPIAL soccer championships
There might be a bit more traffic than usual heading down Route 28 the next few days, as local soccer fans make their way to Highmark Stadium on the South Side. Of the 16 boys and girls soccer teams playing for WPIAL championships Thursday through Saturday, five are from the...
Fox Chapel locks in, beats Plum to return to WPIAL Class 3A championship game
Fox Chapel is heading back to Highmark Stadium for a shot at a second straight WPIAL championship. Sophomore Emily McKee and senior Maddie Grimsley tallied first-half goals for the top-seeded Foxes, senior Alyssa Quackenbush scored in the second half, and the defense limited the normally potent offensive attack of No....
Kiski Area to host 3rd We Serve First All-Star Classic girls volleyball game
The third annual We Serve First All-Star Classic, sponsored by the We Serve First Foundation, is set for Dec. 7 at Kiski Area High School. The event will celebrate and recognize the skills of 40 of the top senior girls volleyball players from 20 schools in the Alle-Kiski Valley and...
A-K Valley high school soccer playoff capsules for Oct. 29, 2024
WPIAL soccer playoffs Boys Class 4A Semifinals 1-Plum (16-0-3) vs. 4-North Allegheny (16-3-1) 6 p.m. Tuesday, Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium, Monroeville Winner plays: Winner of 2-Peters Township (16-1-1)/3-Fox Chapel (11-4-2) Oct. 31, Nov. 1 or Nov. 2 at Highmark Stadium in championship Corner kicks: These teams played to a 1-1 tie...
After long-awaited playoff victory, Gateway volleyball bows out to top-seeded Beaver
Gateway first-year girls volleyball coach Erica Bosh said her team’s trip to the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs showed just how far the team came since she arrived in August, and how hard they worked to come together and make a run to the postseason. The Gators saw their season come...
Gateway boys soccer makes 5th straight trip to playoffs, falls to Canon-McMillan
It wasn’t the way the Gateway boys soccer team wanted its WPIAL Class 4A first-round playoff game to play out. Homestanding Canon-McMillan, the eighth seed, scored quickly, developed a multi-goal advantage in the first half, and finished off a surprising 6-0 victory over the No. 9 Gators on Oct. 22....
Highlands joins Deer Lakes, Freeport, Leechburg from A-K Valley in football playoffs
Four Alle-Kiski Valley football teams will be a part of the WPIAL playoffs. Three of the four — Deer Lakes, Freeport and Leechburg — knew they were securely in the field by finishing high enough in their conference standings to earn an automatic berth. It was a slightly different story...
Tennis standout Ronit Yurovsky among 2024 inductees to Plum Sports Hall of Fame
The Plum High School Sports Hall of Fame will induct its Class of 2024 on Nov. 14, at Edgewood Country Club. This year’s inductees are Scott Benzel (Class of 1993), Nolan Cressler (2012), Andrew DeFazio (1995), Richard Foutz (1970), Scott McGough (2008), William Rometo (1970), William Wilmore (1990), Ronit Yurovsky...
Greensburg CC holds off Leechburg in Eastern Conference showdown
Second place in the Eastern Conference and a possible home playoff game were up for grabs between Leechburg and Greensburg Central Catholic on Friday at Leechburg Veterans Stadium. The Blue Devils and Centurions went down to the wire. The GCC defense made one final stand with just over a minute...
Bill Fralic among athletic greats to be inducted into Croatian American Sports Hall of Fame
Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania will be well represented as the Croatian American Sports Hall of Fame Committee welcomes 11 new members at a banquet ceremony Saturday evening at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center hotel Downtown. Legendary Pitt athletes Bill Fralic, Ralph Cindrich and Tim Grgurich will be joined by Penn...
