High School category, Page 428
High school roundup for Sept. 13, 2023: North Allegheny breaks 2nd-half tie to stay unbeaten
Abigail Stager’s second goal of the game broke a second-half tie to send North Allegheny to a 4-3 victory over Fox Chapel in Section 1-4A girls soccer Wednesday night. Jadyn Coy and Gracie Strzempek also scored for the Tigers (8-0, 5-0). Taylor Wilkinson and Kate Friday scored for the Foxes...
Latrobe girls soccer team powers past Franklin Regional with 2 first-half goals
An airplane flew over Rossi Field early in the girls soccer game Wednesday night, descending slowly toward the nearby airport named after Arnold Palmer. A short time later, Latrobe lifted off. Junior Robin Reilly and freshman Emerson Shine netted first-half goals as the fourth-ranked Wildcats set down visiting No. 5...
PIAA changes how it counts students, likely increasing public school enrollment numbers
Public schools will see their enrollments increase in the next few months, at least according to PIAA statistics. The PIAA is changing the formula used to count students, which might cause some sports teams to unexpectedly move into a different classification for the 2024-25 school year. Currently, school districts count...
Trib 10: Losses shake up back half of high school football power rankings
Week 2 proved to be rough one for WPIAL teams that took home gold in 2022. Pine-Richland (5A), Steel Valley (2A) and Union (A) all lost; however, the combined record of the teams that beat them — Penn Hills, Seton LaSalle and Cornell — is an impressive 8-1. Two other...
NIL violations will leave high school athletes ineligible under new PIAA policy
Pennsylvania high school athletes who repeatedly violate name, image and likeness rules would lose their eligibility entirely under penalties adopted Wednesday by the PIAA. The PIAA board approved a three strikes approach for violations of the NIL rules enacted last winter. A student’s period of ineligibility increases with each violation,...
The Birdie’s Week 3 Westmoreland County picks are going downhill
Last week: 9-3 (75%) Season: 23-11 (67.6%) The yellow-bellied Birdie would like to get some things off his chest so he can predict games with a clear conscience. He has some pet peeves eating at him that he needs to get out in the open. While he has made it...
Westmoreland County high school football matchups for 2023 Week 3
Class 5A Big East Conference Franklin Regional (2-1) at Gateway (0-3) 7 p.m. Friday, Pete Antimarino Stadium, Monroeville Last week: Franklin Regional 38, Connellsville 0; North Hills 26, Gateway 8 Last year’s result: Franklin Regional 16, Gateway 7 Teams trending in separate directions will open Big East Conference play. …...
Knoch, Southmoreland square off in battle of unexpected unbeatens
Some might be surprised by the Southmoreland and Knoch football teams starting the 2023 season at 3-0. Their coaches certainly aren’t among that group. The WPIAL Class 3A teams collide in a nonconference matchup Friday in Saxonburg looking to stay unbeaten. This is only the fourth time the teams have...
Westmoreland County football players to watch in 2023 Week 3
Player of the week Tasso Whipple Penn-Trafford, Jr., RB/LB The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder had a breakout for the Warriors. He rushed for 220 yards and two touchdowns and caught four passes for 36 yards and another score to lead Penn-Trafford to its first win of the season. His 41-yard run in...
2023 Western Pa. high school football schedule for Week 3
Thursday WPIAL Big 7 Shenango at Union, 7 p.m. City League University Prep at Westinghouse, 7 p.m. Friday WPIAL Class 6A Central Catholic at Mt. Lebanon, 7 p.m. Class 5A Allegheny Six Peters Township at South Fayette, 7 p.m. Big East Franklin Regional at Gateway, 7 p.m. Plum at Norwin,...
The Birdie keeps his head held high heading into Week 2 in A-K Valley high school football
Last week: 8-3 (72.7%) Season: 23-9 (71.9%) When The Birdie shuffled out of the office late Friday night, he was little bit down. He wasn’t even thinking about which bar’s kitchen would still be open, which is normally pretty much the only thing his bird brain obsesses about late Friday...
A-K Valley high school football matchups for 2023 Week 3
Class 5A Big East Conference Plum (2-1, 0-0) at Norwin (1-2, 0-0) 7 p.m. Friday, Norwin Knights Stadium, North Huntingdon Last week: Shaler 28, Plum 14; Norwin 33, Fox Chapel 18 Last year’s result: Plum 42, Norwin 13 A power running attack meets a go-and-throw approach in a Big East...
Highlands motivated to start Greater Allegheny Conference play against North Catholic
For the Highlands football team, the road to the WPIAL playoffs kicks into high gear Friday. After three victories in nonconference play to start the season, the Golden Rams open Greater Allegheny Conference action on the road at perennial playoff contender North Catholic (1-2). Highlands coach Matt Bonislawski knows what...
A-K Valley football players to watch in 2023 Week 3
Player of the Week Devin Beattie Burrell, Sr., RB/LB Devin Beattie was questionable to play Friday against Valley after suffering an injury two weeks ago in the loss at Deer Lakes. But the bruising runner wasn’t going to stand on the sidelines and not play against the rival Vikings. Beattie...
Westmoreland County boys soccer notebook: Latrobe looking part of contender
It is a question coaches in Section 4-3A keep asking: How good is Latrobe? The Wildcats, looking to get back into the WPIAL playoff conversation under second-year coach Jake Rice, have started 4-1. They opened with a 2-1 win over Penn-Trafford, then handled Obama (3-1) and Penn Hills (3-0). Their...
Junior scorer emerges as game-changer for Norwin boys soccer
When Norwin played Canon-McMillan in a section matchup last boys soccer season, Daniel Maddock moved from outside back, where he had played for three games, to the wing. “I scored a goal from like 30 yards out,” the Knights’ junior said. “I have been playing striker ever since.” And he...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Sept. 12, 2023
High schools WPIAL Cross county Tuesday’s results Boys Class 3A Section 5 Blackhawk 15, Ambridge 48 Blackhawk 23, Chartiers Valley 32 Section 6 Moon 15, Trinity 48 Moon 24, Upper St. Clair 31 Upper St. Clair 15, Trinity 44 Class 2A Section 3 Avella 15, Keystone Oaks 50 Avella 19,...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Sept. 13, 2023: South Hills rivals to square off in girls soccer
Last year, four South Hills rivals qualified for the WPIAL Class 4A girls soccer playoffs. Those same four schools sit stop the Section 2-4A standings midway through September. On Wednesday, those four schools square off when Bethel Park visits Upper St. Clair and Mt. Lebanon hosts Peters Township. The perfect...
High school roundup for Sept. 12, 2023: Montour junior nets OT winner on his birthday
Junior Evan Bonato scored the winning goal with 58 seconds left in the second overtime, on his birthday, to lead undefeated Montour to a 1-0 victory over South Fayette (4-1-2, 3-1-2) in Section 2-3A boys soccer Tuesday night. Dom Passaro assisted on the winning goal for the Spartans (5-0, 5-0)....
Freeport girls soccer off to strong start despite heavy graduation losses
The Freeport girls soccer team earned a WPIAL playoff berth last year for the 10th season in a row. Only Plum, with 11, has a longer streak in the Alle-Kiski Valley. The Yellowjackets lost eight seniors from a team that finished second in a competitive Section 2-2A with 10 victories,...
Trib HSSN Pennsylvania high school football rankings for Sept. 12, 2023
It was a bit of a rough week for Districts 3 and 7 as they both lost two teams from last week’s Trib HSSN PIAA football rankings. Five teams lost and dropped out of the state Top 5, including Harrisburg (6A) and Manheim Central (4A) from D-3 and Steel Valley...
Moon Area parents call for reinstatement of assistant gymnastics coachVideo
Dozens of parents and student-athletes who attended Monday night’s Moon Area School Board meeting called for the reinstatement of an assistant gymnastics coach and accused one board member of pursuing a “vendetta” against the gymnastics program. Nick Price, the former assistant coach, was let go in April after former Moon...
Westmoreland County girls soccer notebook: Latrobe roster packed with Division I players
With junior Robin Reilly giving a verbal commitment to West Virginia, Latrobe continued its recent pipeline to Division I college soccer. The Wildcats now have four players committed to D-1 programs. The others are senior forward Regan Reilly (Bowling Green), senior midfielder Ella Bulava (Maryland) and junior midfielder Maddy Petruzzi...
Suffocating defense fuels Penn-Trafford girls soccer
When a goal finally found its way into the net during an overtime section opener at Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford did not descend into girls soccer madness. It was just a miscue — a hitch, a blip — and the Warriors didn’t expect to make many more. And they haven’t. Only...
Plum, Bethel Park remain undefeated in Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League play
Plum and Bethel Park are the only undefeated teams left after two weeks of the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League season. Plum swept Seneca Valley on Sunday, 16-1 and 19-4, to move to 4-0. The Mustangs have outscored their opponents 67-9. Bethel Park is 3-0, scoring 35 runs and posting...
