Michael Love stories, Page 57

Area high school girls volleyball seniors, and the game itself, will be celebrated Dec. 10 as the inaugural We Serve First All-Star Classic will be at Kiski Area High School. The event will highlight the skills of 38 seniors from 19 high schools from throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley and surrounding...

Brownsville senior Jolena Quarzo became the 12th girl to win three WPIAL cross country titles when she won the Class 2A race Thursday at Roadman Park at Cal (Pa.). Latrobe’s Natalie Bower (Toman) and Vincentian’s Marianna Abdallah are the only four-time winners. Bower won from 2005-2008 in Class 3A and...

For the first time since 2018, both the Riverview boys and girls cross country teams will run at the PIAA meet in Hershey after they each claimed third place in their Class A races at the WPIAL championships Thursday on the Roadman Park course at Cal (Pa.). The Raiders boys...

The Riverview boys cross country team struck WPIAL gold last year as it won the Class A crown after five straight runner-up finishes to Winchester Thurston. Three of the top four finishers from the 2021 team, which took third at the PIAA championships, graduated. But senior Division I recruit Amberson...

Nick Curci Apollo-Ridge, sr., RB/LB The Vikings head into Friday’s Allegheny Conference finale against Burrell with a playoff spot on the line, and Curci hopes to be a difference maker in that clash. He certainly was that last week as Apollo-Ridge upset Serra Catholic in overtime, 43-36. Curci, who didn’t...

Class 5A Northeast Fox Chapel (0-9, 0-4) at Shaler (4-5, 1-3) 7 p.m. Friday, Louis C. Martig Field at Titans Stadium, Glenshaw Fox Chapel is hoping to avoid a winless season for the first time since 1968. The Foxes suffered a 50-13 loss to Kiski Area last Friday as the...

Thursday’s games Boys Class 2A Quarterfinals 12-West Mifflin (12-6-1) at 4-Deer Lakes (17-2) 6:30 p.m., Lancers Stadium, West Deer Winner plays: Winner of 1-South Park (18-0)/8-McGuffey (13-5-1) in semifinals Monday (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Fynn McCracken, GK, West Mifflin; Nate Litrun, D, Deer Lakes Corner kicks: Senior forward...

Dave Anderson will be front and center Wednesday evening as a varsity assistant for the Kiski Area boys soccer team as it hosts Montour at 6:30 in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal at Richard Dilts Stadium. On Monday, he was in command as the head coach of the Cavaliers girls...

Wednesday’s games Boys Class 3A Quarterfinals 13-Montour (11-4-4) at 5-Kiski Area (16-3) 8 p.m., Richard Dilts Stadium, Allegheny Township Winner plays: Winner of 1-Moon (17-0-1)/8-Bethel Park (14-5) in semifinals Monday (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Andrew Prunier, MF, Montour; Maddox Anderson, GK, Kiski Area Corner kicks: Montour opened the...

The Plum girls soccer team left no doubt in its WPIAL Class 3A first-round playoff game with Kiski Area on Monday at Mustangs Stadium. The No. 3 Mustangs led 4-0 at halftime and added five more goals in the second half to post an 9-0 victory over the 14th-seeded Cavaliers....

Freeport senior Nora Mahan and sophomore Addy Kristofik have a busy week ahead of them. The starters for the Yellowjackets girls soccer team (13-2) hope to help lead the No. 7 seed to victory over Southmoreland in a WPIAL Class 2A first-round matchup Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Freeport Area...

Tuesday’s games Boys Class A First round 10-Serra Catholic (9-6) at 7-Burrell (14-3) 8 p.m., Buccaneers Stadium, Lower Burrell Winner plays: Winner of 2-Winchester Thurston (12-2-1)/15-California (5-11) in quarterfinals Saturday (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Ethan Coddington, GK, Serra Catholic; Seth Trisoline, MF, Burrell Corner kicks: Serra Catholic finished...

Monday’s games Boys Class 2A First round 13-Hopewell (8-7) at 4-Deer Lakes (16-2) 6:30 p.m. Monday, at Lancers Stadium, West Deer Township Winner plays: Winner of 5-Belle Vernon (13-4)/12-West Mifflin (11-6-1) Players to Watch: Ryan Hanes, F, Deer Lakes Corner kicks: It was a tale of two playoff appearances for...

Against Geneva College on Oct. 10, Brady Walker threw for 221 yards and three touchdowns to help Saint Vincent post a 41-25 Presidents’ Athletic Conference victory. Both were season highs for the Gateway graduate and Bearcats senior. The effort marked the fifth time in Walker’s collegiate career that he threw...

Plum ice hockey coach Phil Mains knew his team was better than what it showed in an 11-0 season-opening loss to defending PIHL Class A champion Norwin on Oct. 10. Given an opportunity at redemption, the Mustangs took full advantage a week later and got into the win column with...

Plum sophomore Wes Lorish missed out on a trip to states last year, so coming into this season, one of his main missions was to get to Penn State and face the best in the state. It was mission accomplished as he took part in the 36-hole PIAA Class 3A...

Gateway girls soccer coach Caleb Kyper wanted to see fight and determination from his team in the Section 3-3A and season finale at Latrobe on Oct. 18. That is what his players gave him, he said, as they battled the playoff-bound and section-runner up Wildcats before falling 2-0 to finish...

The Springdale girls soccer team is moving on to the quarterfinals. The No. 2 Dynamos got goals from sophomores Briana Ross and Molly Hurley, and senior Grace Gent and then held off a late charge from No. 15 Sewickley Academy for a 3-2 victory in a WPIAL Class A first-round...

With five WPIAL playoff spots available in the Class 2A Allegheny Conference, there still are things to be decided. And Friday’s regular-season finale between Burrell and Apollo-Ridge at Burrell’s Buccaneer Stadium is a big final piece to the postseason puzzle. Steel Valley (6-0), Serra Catholic (5-1) and Ligonier Valley (4-2)...

The Gateway boys soccer team had designs, as the No. 12 seed, of taking down No. 5 Kiski Area in a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game Saturday at Kiski Area’s Richard Dilts Stadium. But the veteran Cavaliers, with eight seniors in the starting lineup, didn’t let their opportunity to advance...

Saturday’s games Boys Class 3A First round 12-Gateway (10-7-1) at 5-Kiski Area (14-3) 2 p.m., Richard Dilts Stadium, Allegheny Township Winner plays: Winner of 13-Montour (9-4-4)/4-Franklin Regional (14-4) in quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (site TBD) Players to watch: Brendan Strawser, MF, Gateway; Anders Bordoy, MF, Kiski Area Corner kicks:...

The Freeport girls volleyball team isn’t technically defending a WPIAL championship. The Yellowjackets moved back to Class 2A after winning the Class 3A crown last year, but the goal remains the same as they begin a quest for a seventh WPIAL title since 2010. Freeport, as expected, was selected as...

North Allegheny, North Catholic, Freeport and Serra Catholic drew No. 1 seeds as the WPIAL released the four girls volleyball playoff brackets Friday afternoon. North Allegheny will attempt to win its fifth Class 4A title in six years as it begins play Thursday at home in the quarterfinals against the...

The Knoch girls tennis team is back on top in WPIAL Class AA. And the Knights defeated a familiar foe to get there. Knoch and Sewickley Academy, the top seeds in the Class AA bracket, met Thursday to decide the WPIAL championship for the sixth year in a row. The...

After three years away from serving as a head basketball coach at the high school level, Shawn Bennis is back. The Highlands School Board last week hired Bennis as its next varsity girls coach. He replaces Jason Kerr, who suddenly stepped down from the position Sept. 7 after one season...