Michael Love stories, Page 38
Riverview settles for silver after falling to Dock Mennonite in PIAA Class A girls soccer final
MECHANICSBURG — The Riverview girls soccer team’s history-making postseason run ended one win short of PIAA gold. District 1 champion Dock Mennonite (21-1-2) scored twice in the in the first half and three more times over the final 40 minutes to finish off a 5-1 victory in the Class A...
Riverview girls soccer team ready for ‘last hurrah’ in PIAA championship game
Of the 140 PIAA schools to sponsor girls soccer at the Class A level, only two are left standing. Riverview is one of those two, and the Raiders are one win away from adding the final golden chapter to an already history-making story. Playing in its first state championship game,...
Riverview keeper Brun used trip to Belgium to expand her game, help Raiders reach state final
Chiara Brun spent last season taking classes and playing club soccer in Belgium. She would keep tabs on her Riverview soccer teammates, following their path through the section games to the WPIAL Class A playoffs. When she came back to Riverview for her junior year and her second season with...
Deer Lakes wants to build on last season’s breakthrough
Albie Fletcher was no stranger to coaching Deer Lakes boys basketball when he took over as coach last year. He knew the pieces were in place for the Lancers to make a deep run in the playoffs. They proved him so very right. Deer Lakes captured WPIAL Class 3A gold...
Deer Lakes girls working hard to build winning culture
Despite winning just five games last year, Deer Lakes was in contention for a WPIAL playoff spot in Section 3-3A down to the final day of the section schedule. A sweep of Ligonier Valley and an upset of playoff qualifier Mt. Pleasant put the Lancers in a winner-take-all game at...
Players announced for 2nd annual We Serve First All-Star Classic girls volleyball event
After a successful inaugural We Serve First Foundation all-star girls volleyball event last year, many involved in the sport locally are gearing up for this year’s festivities Dec. 2 at Kiski Area High School. Seniors from throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley and other schools in the region have been selected to...
Lola Abraham does it again, scoring 4 to send Riverview to state championship game
The Riverview girls soccer team’s second trip to the Johnstown area in a week’s time was just as successful as the first. Senior Lola Abraham tallied all four goals for the Raiders in a 4-1 victory over District 6 champion Bishop Guilfoyle on Tuesday in a PIAA Class A semifinal...
Apollo-Ridge boys basketball relishes health this season
The Apollo-Ridge boys basketball team hoped to be in the Section 3-3A mix last year, but injuries before and during the season quickly scuttled those plans. The injury bug bit the team a couple of months before the season as then-junior Karter Schrock, who started for the Vikings as a...
Apollo-Ridge girls basketball ready to take next step after strong run
The Apollo-Ridge girls basketball team won 19 games last year, finished runner-up to Shady Side Academy in Section 3-3A and hosted the first home playoff game by a Vikings basketball program, boys or girls. There were a lot of things to be pleased about following the season, and the returning...
Riverview girls hope to continue historic march through PIAA soccer playoffs
Last fall, Juliette Brun was watching Riverview girls soccer games, including the WPIAL Class A first-round matchup with Chartiers-Houston, from the stands, knowing that she along with others in her then-eighth grade class soon would get their chance to contribute. Brun, a defender on a Raiders unit that has allowed...
Gateway welcomes newest class of Sports Hall of Fame honorees
Four years separated the opportunities for the Gateway athletics family to honor its own. More than 150 people gathered together Nov. 4 at Edgewood Country Club to again celebrate memorable sports accomplishments with the enshrinement of the Gateway Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023. Celebrated this year were Shayla...
Gateway’s Kefimba Cisse caps high school career at PIAA championship meet
Two years ago as a sophomore, Gateway’s Kefimba Cisse placed 67th in the Class 3A boys race at the WPIAL cross country championships at Cal (Pa.). He wasn’t able to reach the state meet in Hershey, but Gators coach Tom LaBuff said the then first-year high school runner was making...
Riverview cross country caps season with 2nd-place finish at PIAA meet
An award-winning season for the Riverview boys cross country team ended with silver medals and a runner-up trophy at the PIAA Class A championships Nov. 4 on Hershey’s Parkview course. It was the second podium finish for the Raiders in five years. The 2019 squad, led by Mason Ochs, Gideon...
Young Plum skaters getting up to speed in early going
Plum’s ice hockey season started well enough with a pair of victories and a combined 14 goals. With both games at home at Pittsburgh Ice Arena in New Kensington, the Mustangs skated past Hampton, 8-2, and then beat Wheeling Park, 6-4. The youthful Plum skaters — there are just four...
Central Catholic motors past Mt. Lebanon back into WPIAL championship game
Central Catholic is back in position to go after another WPIAL football championship. The Vikings, the No. 1 seed in Class 6A, held a two-touchdown lead at halftime of Friday’s semifinal matchup with No. 4 Mt. Lebanon at Fox Chapel. They added on over the final 24 minutes, fronted by...
Neighborhood rivals Riverview, Springdale to battle for 3rd time in PIAA quarterfinals
The Springdale and Riverview girls soccer teams both had to make long trips to earn victories Tuesday in the first round of the PIAA Class A playoffs. The WPIAL runner-up Raiders traveled 84 miles east toward Johnstown and came away with a 5-3 victory in a back-and-forth game against District...
Pennsylvania Karate Championships celebrate 50 years
The Pennsylvania Karate Championships are golden in 2023. They also have expanded to two days. The 50th championships, a keystone event in the region since the early 1970s, will be Friday and Saturday in the grand ballroom of the Quality Inn in New Kensington. It is where the event began...
After historic playoff win, Deer Lakes turns attention to defending PIAA champion Belle Vernon
Deer Lakes made history and made a statement Friday with its 30-point home victory over Southmoreland in a WPIAL Class 3A first-round football game. It was the No. 8 Lancers’ first playoff victory in only their second postseason game at home. Now, Deer Lakes hopes to make a bigger statement...
Student-athletes learn importance of respect at 14th annual WPIAL Sportsmanship Summit
More than 400 student-athletes from schools throughout Western Pennsylvania gathered Wednesday morning to discuss and learn about what they can do to create a stronger leadership environment through sportsmanship on and off the field of competition. The 14th annual WPIAL Sportsmanship Summit at the Sen. John Heinz History Center in...
Riverview girls advance to PIAA Class A quarterfinals, rematch with Springdale
DAVIDSVILLE — Lola Abraham was struck in the face by a kicked ball four minutes into the second half of a PIAA Class A first-round game Tuesday at District 5 champion Conemaugh Township. It took several minutes for her to clear the cobwebs. “It caught her off guard,” Raiders coach...
Riverview, Springdale girls soccer teams hit reset button for PIAAs; rematch could await
The Riverview and Springdale girls soccer teams could meet for a third time this season Saturday afternoon, provided they take care of business against district-champion opponents in their PIAA Class A first-round matches Tuesday. Raiders coach Sean Abraham and Dynamos coach Marc Bentley said their teams are not looking ahead...
After coming up short for WPIAL title, resilient Freeport heads to state volleyball tournament
The Freeport girls volleyball team is no stranger to taking on the best in the state at this point in a fall season. While the Yellowjackets players had hoped to enter this year’s PIAA Class 2A playoffs with another WPIAL title under their belts, head coach Tom Phillips said they...
Gateway youth football league celebrates 11-12 championship
Only two programs in the Big East Youth Football League had all four of its teams — flag, ages 7-8, ages 9-10 and ages 11-12 — qualify for the season-ending league playoffs. One was Penn-Trafford, and the other was the Gateway teams: the Midgets (11-12), Mites (9-10), Termites (7-8) and...
After 4th straight playoff appearance, Gateway boys soccer says goodbye to senior class
A fourth straight trip to the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs was in the preseason plans for the Gateway boys soccer team. A streak-breaking victory in their first-round matchup at No. 5 Montour also was what the Gators wanted. They got the former but were denied the latter, as the Spartans...
Plum girls soccer team reflects on accomplishments after strong season
The Plum girls soccer team sought a return trip to the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals for the fifth year in a row when it faced Montour in a quarterfinal rematch of a regular-season tie game. It was the only blemish in 17 games for the No. 2 Mustangs through a...
