Michael Love stories, Page 61
A-K Valley soccer playoff preview capsules for games of Oct. 26, 2022
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...
Plum girls soccer team cruises past Kiski Area in first-round playoff game
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 duo will compete in girls soccer playoff game, WPIAL cross country this week
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...
A-K Valley soccer playoff preview capsules for games of Oct. 25, 2022
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...
A-K Valley soccer playoff preview capsules for games of Oct. 24, 2022
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...
Gateway grad Brady Walker, Saint Vincent look to finish season strong
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 hockey rebounds from tough start, looks ahead to promising season
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’s Wes Lorish relishes experience at PIAA golf championships
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...
Solid finish sends Gateway girls soccer team’s seniors out on high note
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...
Springdale girls soccer team holds off Sewickley Academy in playoff opener
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...
A-K Valley high school football notebook: Apollo-Ridge firmly in Allegheny Conference playoff race
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)...
Kiski Area rides strong 2nd half to playoff win
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...
A-K Valley soccer playoff preview capsules for games of Oct. 22, 2022
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:...
Freeport girls look to add Class 2A WPIAL volleyball crown to collection
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...
Volleyball powers get a look at their path to gold as the WPIAL announces playoff pairings
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...
Knoch, Mt. Lebanon claim WPIAL girls tennis team titles
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...
Former Burrell boys coach takes over Highlands girls basketball program
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...
Plum, Springdale among top seeds from A-K Valley focused on 1st-round WPIAL playoff foes
Despite temperatures in the low 40s Wednesday accompanied by rain and wind, 16 Alle-Kiski Valley boys and girls soccer teams felt the warmth of discovering the whos, whens and wheres of the upcoming WPIAL playoff tournaments. “There’s always conjecture about what the bracket is going to look like, and then...
A-K Valley football players to watch in 2022 Week 8
Chase Fenner Burrell, sr., QB/LB He doesn’t throw the ball much, but that doesn’t mean he can’t sling it if needed. Fenner has contributed 70 carries for 317 yards and eight touchdowns in a run game that averages 291 yards a game. Landon Harmon Apollo-Ridge, sr., RB/DE Harmon hopes to...
A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for 2022 Week 8
Class 5A Big East Hempfield (5-3, 1-2) at Plum (3-5, 1-3) 7 p.m. Friday, Mustangs Stadium, Plum The Spartans try to end a three-game losing streak to save their playoff hopes. Plum saw its playoffs hopes end with a 35-21 loss at Penn-Trafford. The Mustangs have dropped four consecutive games...
Kiski Area girls soccer has been in playoff mode
Kiski Area girls soccer coach Dave Anderson said his team played several must-win games down the stretch as it fought to keep its WPIAL playoff-appearance streak intact. That included Monday’s win-or-go-home Section 1-3A matchup at Indiana. “For us, the playoffs started early with that game,” Anderson said. It ended up...
Plum girls soccer wins at home to clinch section crown
The Plum girls soccer team controlled its own destiny Monday to finish off its fourth straight section championship. The Mustangs didn’t let the visiting Penn-Trafford Warriors play the role of spoiler. Seniors Cam Rogers and Kaitlyn Killinger each scored a goal and provided an assist in the first half as...
Kiski Area senior swimmer chooses West Virginia
Parker Sterlitz made his first visit to West Virginia University about a year ago. The senior swimming standout at Kiski Area said he immediately fell in love with the campus and the Mountaineers swimming program. Since then, Sterlitz said, he looked at other schools and found himself comparing them to...
North Allegheny, Hampton, Freeport, Serra Catholic atop final coaches association volleyball rankings
It’s about that time. The regular season for WPIAL girls volleyball concludes with the end of section play Thursday and a couple of nonsection matchups Friday and Saturday. The road to the four WPIAL championship games Nov. 5 begins next week. There are section championships and playoff qualifiers to be...
Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League teams ready for playoff tournament
Montour, North Allegheny, Bethel Park, Baldwin and Shaler each recorded doubleheader sweeps Sunday as the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League nears the conclusion of its regular season and prepares for its playoff tournament. Before the playoff brackets can be finalized, there is one more regular-season game to be played. Baldwin,...
