Michael Love stories, Page 3
Burrell girls volleyball takes measured approach into WPIAL playoffs
For the first time in program history, the Burrell girls volleyball team will enter the WPIAL playoffs as a section champion. But head coach Kourtney Lehman said the Bucs players, who outlasted Southmoreland in four games on the road Thursday to clinch the outright Section 5-2A title, quickly turned the...
A-K Valley soccer playoff preview capsules for Oct. 21, 2025
WPIAL soccer playoffs Girls Class A First round 13 Chartiers-Houston (8-5-2) at 5-Springdale (10-1-1) 6 p.m. Tuesday at Springdale High School Winner plays: Winner of 12-Riverview (8-5) vs. 5-Riverside (8-3-1) Saturday in quarterfinals (site/time TBD) Throw-ins: Springdale is seeking back-to-back WPIAL titles. The Dynamos captured the third WPIAL crown in...
Pine-Richland, Peters Township, Shady Side Academy earn top seeds for WPIAL field hockey playoffs
The WPIAL field hockey committee on Monday released the brackets for the Class 3A, Class 2A and Class A playoffs. Pine-Richland (Class 3A), Peters Township (Class 2A) and Shady Side Academy (Class A) are the No. 1 seeds. Pine-Richland will host No. 4 Norwin in one Class 3A semifinal at...
A-K Valley high school football notebook: Apollo-Ridge completes turnaround with playoff berth
Apollo-Ridge has gone from a one-win season in 2024 to qualifying for the WPIAL playoffs. The Vikings’ turnaround continued Friday when they clinched the postseason berth with a 45-34 Allegheny Conference victory over South Park, last year’s WPIAL Class 2A champion. Apollo-Ridge (6-3, 4-1) and Steel Valley (6-3, 4-1) are...
Riverview, Plum cross country teams set for WPIAL championship meet
All of the invitationals and dual meets are over and the training runs are coming to an end as the Riverview and Plum cross country teams gear up for Thursday’s WPIAL championships at White Oak Park. The Raiders and Mustangs have competed at White Oak several times already this season...
Plum hockey reloads to make another run at Penguins Cup playoffs
The Plum hockey team went 13-6 last year in the PIHL Class A regular season and had high hopes for a run in the Penguins Cup playoffs. However, a 6-0 loss to North Hills in the first round put a halt to those plans. “That was very tough,” third-year Mustangs...
Trio of late interceptions helps Plum pull away from Kiski Area, bolster playoff hopes
Plum trailed Kiski Area by two points late in the third quarter of Friday’s nonconference rivalry clash at Mustangs Stadium. But the Mustangs rallied, with both sides of the ball contributing. The Plum defense intercepted three passes from Cavaliers sophomore quarterback Landyn Artman. The Mustangs offense converted all three of...
North Allegheny, Oakland Catholic, Hopewell, Frazier earn top seeds for WPIAL girls volleyball playoffs
The WPIAL girls volleyball teams have concluded section and nonsection matches, and invitational tournaments are in the past. The WPIAL postseason is here, and the playoff pairings committee on Friday released the brackets for all four classifications. North Allegheny (Class 4A), Oakland Catholic (Class 3A), Hopewell (Class 2A) and Frazier...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2025 Week 8
Player of the week Aven Shirley Kiski Area, Sr., WR/DB Shirley hauled in 10 catches for 184 yards and a touchdown in a 27-25 win over Armstrong. That reception total is the top mark in the Alle-Kiski Valley for 2025. His 32-yard reception from Artman in the second quarter put...
Leechburg looks to rebound vs. Brentwood with Eastern Conference playoff implications on the line
The Leechburg football team has not lost back-to-back games in the regular season since early in the covid-shortened 2020 season. The Blue Devils hope to keep that streak going Friday. Leechburg, which suffered a shutout loss to Class A juggernaut Clairton in Eastern Conference play last Friday, will look to...
Top-seeded Fox Chapel girls lead 15 A-K Valley teams on road to Highmark Stadium
The waiting ended at about 1:15 Wednesday afternoon when 15 Alle-Kiski Valley boys and girls soccer teams found out their playoff fates as the WPIAL revealed all eight brackets for the road to Highmark Stadium. The Fox Chapel girls lead the way with a No. 1 seed in Class 3A...
Breaking down the 2025 WPIAL girls soccer playoffs
Here’s a look at the 2025 WPIAL girls soccer playoffs: Class 4A Favorite: Defending Class 4A champion Peters Township (13-2-2) rolled to a 10-0 record in Section 2, outscoring opponents 46-6. The Indians and Class 3A power Fox Chapel played to overtime Monday before the Foxes prevailed. Peters had won...
Friends, family reflect on Gateway’s Terry Smith coaching Penn State: ‘He just cared so much’
A Zoom conference call Tuesday morning brought together many of Terry Smith’s family and friends from his time growing up on Firethorn Drive in Monroeville’s Garden City neighborhood. Harvey Smith, Terry’s older brother by a few years and a coaching colleague at Gateway for nearly a decade, helped lead the...
Leechburg grad Braylan Lovelace contributes to Pitt’s win over Florida State
The Pitt football team moved to 2-1 in ACC play and 4-2 overall with Saturday’s 34-31 win at Florida State. Leechburg graduate Braylan Lovelace posted a career high- tying 10 tackles in the victory. He was one of three Panthers defenders to have 10 or more stops against the Seminoles. The...
Gateway champion swimmer Melanie Morgan Miller set to join Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame
Not many people can say they appeared in Sports Illustrated. But Melanie Morgan Miller’s photos and her swimming accomplishments at the high school level were featured in the magazine’s “Faces in the Crowd” segment in 1988. But the Gateway graduate was not just any face in the crowd. She won...
Gateway baseball players benefit from fall workouts
Gateway baseball coach Andy Hoover welcomed more than two dozen players to fall workouts and scrimmages at the end of August. It was a fresh start for a group with high expectations and goals to make it back to the WPIAL playoffs. The second-year coach said the past few weeks,...
‘Something to prove’: Tevin Owen-Cratsenberg shines in backfield for Highlands
Tevin Owen-Cratsenberg’s rise to running prominence this season started a 31-28 Week Zero victory against Armstrong. The Highlands sophomore collected 122 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 23 carries. The transition to a feature back in the Golden Rams’ offense had its ups and downs early as he cut...
Riverview golfers set to compete at PIAA tournament
Rex Roberts and Ian Stempfer are on the cusp of their first PIAA championship golf tournament. The Riverview juniors will join the best from throughout the state Monday and Tuesday for 36 holes on the Penn State White Course. Raiders coach Hal Biehl said the duo continues to focus well...
Plum boys soccer celebrates WPIAL championship anniversary
Two decades have passed since the Plum boys soccer program experienced one of its greatest seasons. The 2005 Mustangs won 22 games and lost just twice. Plum captured the WPIAL Class 3A title and made it all the way to the PIAA semifinals. A sizeable group of players from that...
Big plays, Tevin Owen-Cratsenberg’s huge game help Highlands beat Burrell to clinch playoff spot
Big plays carried the Highlands football team to an Allegheny 7 Conference win over Burrell on Friday at Burrell’s Buccaneers Stadium. Five of the Golden Rams’ six touchdowns totaled 52 yards or more. Highlands broke open a tie game at halftime with three straight scores and came away with a...
WPISL regular-season set to conclude with a series of doubleheaders
Bethel Park and Montour rolled through their respective schedules over the first six weeks of the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League schedule. The Black Hawks and Spartans, both undefeated at 12-0, will decide the regular-season title Sunday when they clash in a doubleheader at 1 and 3 p.m. at Bethel...
Burrell girls soccer team finds consistency, ends section play on high note
Burrell girls soccer coach Frank Nesko guided his team through a film session Thursday afternoon before the players took to the field at Buccaneers Stadium under sunny skies for a quick and efficient hourlong workout. The Bucs had just come off a competitive 2-1 victory over Shady Side Academy on...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2025 Week 7
Player of the week Landyn Artman Kiski Area, So., QB/DB Artman delivered for the Cavaliers in their 34-13 victory over Latrobe last Friday that vaulted them back into the playoff hunt in the Big East Conference. He threw a season-best five touchdown passes and finished with 267 yards through the...
Highlands, Burrell to square off in high stakes showdown
It’s the stretch run to the WPIAL playoffs, and for Burrell and Highlands, an Allegheny 7 Conference clash Friday at Burrell’s Buccaneer Stadium is rife with playoff implications. While both teams’ players and coaches understand how important the game is in the conference standings and for the playoff picture in...
A-K Valley volleyball notebook: Springdale in position to snap playoff drought
The Springdale girls volleyball team is on the cusp of ending an eight-year WPIAL playoff drought. The Dynamos outlasted Aquinas Academy, 3-2, on Tuesday as they held off a furious rally after grabbing a two-set lead in the match. Led by 14 kills from junior Bella George, 11 kills from...
