A-K Valley campus clippings: Komaniak delivers in clutch for W&J men's soccer

Riverview graduate Michael Komaniak didn’t waste any time delivering the dramatic for the Washington & Jefferson men’s soccer team.

The senior forward and team captain tallied the winning goal in the 89th minute to lift the Presidents past Point Park, 3-2, in the season opener last Wednesday.

Komaniak also scored the first goal of the game in the 13th minute and finished with six shots.

The goals were his 13th and 14th of his three-plus year career at W&J.

He scored a career-best eight goals with seven assists in 22 games of the 2019 season when he also earned All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference second-team recognition.

In last spring’s covid-shortened season, he picked up an All-PAC honorable mention nod.

Brooke Krally and Grace Sisson (Fox Chapel)

The sophomores led the defending Atlantic 10 champion Duquesne women’s cross country team to a first-place finish at the season-opening Yinzer Cross Country Classic on Friday on the Youthtowne course in Clinton. Krally led the Dukes in fourth with a time of 15 minutes, 10.1 seconds on the 4K course. Sisson was right behind Krally in fifth with a time of 15:15.2. Duquesne, which had all five of its runners place in the top 10, bested runner-up Pitt and third-place Youngstown State.

Brayden Thimons (Highlands)

The Westminster College senior defensive lineman had seven tackles in Saturday’s loss to Division III top-ranked Mt. Union. The 6-foot-4, 235-pounder also caught a pass for 23 yards. Thimons is coming off a successful spring season in which he earned D3football.com first-team All-American honors after helping Westminster win its first PAC title with a 5-0 record.

Scott Fraser (Knoch)

The Grove City sophomore wide receiver made the most of his first collegiate start. He caught five passes for 114 yards in the Wolverines’ 39-14 victory over Juniata. Fraser was part of a Grove City offensive attack that recorded 543 yards of total offense (323 passing, 220 rushing). The 6-4, 195-pound Fraser played in three games for the Wolverines in the spring and earned his first letter.

Faith Remich (Burrell)

The Washington & Jefferson senior kicked off her season in style last Wednesday with a second-place finish out at the Muskingum University Opener. Remich finished the course in 17:20.5. Her finish was the best of her collegiate career. W&J went 1-2 and teammate Cassie Carr, a sophomore from Girard, Ohio, cruised to the top spot in 16:37.8.

Chad Kuhn (Kiski Area)

The 6-2, 240-pound Slippery Rock redshirt senior defensive end was a part of a well-rounded defensive effort that helped The Rock edge Wayne State in the season opener Saturday. Kuhn made three tackles, including a sack for an eight-yard loss, forced a fumble and had two quarterback hurries in the 24-21 victory, Kuhn earned first-team all-conference, all-region and All-American honors in 2019.

Nick Taliani (Springdale)

The Washington & Jefferson men’s soccer team bounced back from a season-opening loss to Westminster by defeating Waynesburg 3-2 in overtime Saturday. Taliani, a senior forward, was a big part of the victory with the game’s opening goal, a strike less than two minutes into the first half. He led the team in shots (five) and shots on goal (four). The goal was Taliani’s sixth of his career.

Tyson Hill (Valley)

The senior wide receiver at Cal (Pa.) had nine receptions for 155 yards, the second-most in his career, as the Vulcans topped Fairmont State, 23-14, on Thursday. The two-time All-PSAC West first-team selection accounted for first downs on seven of his nine catches. Hill also eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark in his career while climbing into seventh place all-time at Cal with 2,142 receiving yards.