Michael Love stories, Page 106
No rust for Apollo-Ridge as it cruises past Shady Side AcademyVideo
A week away from game action didn’t slow Apollo-Ridge’s momentum. The Class 2A No. 4 Vikings on Friday got on the scoreboard early and added on from there in a 42-7 victory over Shady Side Academy in an Allegheny Conference matchup at Owens Field in Apollo. “I thought our guys...
WPISL teams hope to finish regular season strong as playoffs loom
Montour and Seneca Valley swept doubleheaders Sunday to remain tied atop the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League standings with two games to play. There is a three-way tie for third with North Allegheny, North Hills and Bethel Park all at 7-3. They have four games remaining. North Hills and Bethel...
Knoch’s Bauer sisters, Peters Township’s defending champs win WPIAL doubles titles
Ally Bauer knew what it felt like to win a WPIAL doubles championship. The Knoch sophomore teamed with the graduated Libby Conlon to claim last year’s Class AA crown. On Thursday, Bauer made it two in a row, and this time, it was a sister act as she and older...
A-K Valley football players to watch in Week 5
Dean Cecere Riverview, jr., RB/LB Cecere broke out last Friday in the Raiders’ loss to Imani Christian. He led the Riverview offense with 208 rushing yards and his first three touchdowns of the season on 17 carries. Cecere added three catches for 28 yards and three kick returns for 60...
A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for Week 5
Class 5A northeast Kiski Area (1-2, 0-2) at Fox Chapel (1-3, 1-1) 7 p.m. Friday at Fox Chapel Stadium, Fox Chapel Fox Chapel hopes to keep up momentum gained from its first win of the season, a 36-21 triumph over Shaler on Friday. Quarterback Justin Rice threw for five touchdowns, giving...
A-K Valley teams jockey for position as girls soccer playoffs draw near
The section schedules in each of the four WPIAL girls soccer classifications are to conclude Oct. 20. The WPIAL soccer committee will meet the next day to set the playoff field. A lot of games will be played over the next couple of weeks in what has become an unprecedented...
Burrell bounces back from first loss, shuts out rival FreeportVideo
The Burrell girls soccer team saw a 20-game Section 2-AA unbeaten streak come to an end Saturday with a loss at Shady Side Academy. But the Bucs were able to bounce back in winning fashion Monday with a 3-0 victory over Freeport on the new turf at Burrell’s Buccaneers Stadium....
Deer Lakes soccer’s Nina Lafko dealing with second torn ACL in 12 months
To have the sport you love taken away from you for a time because of a serious injury such as a torn anterior cruciate ligament can be hard reality to grasp. But to have the same injury happen just a couple of months after fully recovering from the first is...
Montour moves to No. 1 in latest Class AAA girls volleyball coaches association rankings
There is one change at the top in this week’s Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association WPIAL girls volleyball rankings released Monday. Montour, the leader of Section 2-AAA at 7-0, takes over the top spot in Class AAA. Plum, 8-0 in Section 1-AAA, jumps five spots to No. 2 after a...
Perennial power Freeport volleyball ‘work in progress’
The Freeport girls volleyball team on Monday begins a stretch of three games in three days and kicks off the second half of its Section 5-AAA schedule with a trip to Mars. Yellowjackets coach Tom Phillips hopes the rematch of Thursday’s five-set loss to the Planets is out of this...
CCAC Boyce baseball team looks forward to spring season
Austin Long is optimistic. The head baseball coach at the Community College of Allegheny County Boyce Campus in Monroeville hopes the team can return to game action in the spring after last spring’s season was wiped out at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Ongoing issues with the pandemic also...
Gateway’s Jenkins getting her kicks on soccer, football teams
Joelle Jenkins doesn’t have a slow gear when it comes to playing soccer. The Gateway senior, a physical four-year starter on defense, wouldn’t have it any other way. Dedication and drive are things that endear her to teammates, Gators coach Kelly Bender said. “Watching Joelle step into a leadership role...
Versatile Reed Martin helps Plum to unbeaten start
In Plum football’s Greater Allegheny Conference game against Mars on Sept. 25, Reed Martin never left the field. The Mustangs senior lined up at wide receiver and running back on offense and at cornerback on defense. He punted, kicked off, converted extra points and returned kicks in the 49-21 triumph....
A-K Valley football notebook: Springdale players respond to coach’s advice
Springdale football coach Seth Napierkowski emphasized to his team before Friday’s game with Greensburg Central Catholic not to take the Centurions lightly. He said his players responded. Fueled by the return of junior quarterback Legend Ausk, the Dynamos weapons on both sides of the ball combined to pull away from...
Senior Martin does a little bit of everything for undefeated Plum football
In Plum football’s Greater Allegheny Conference game against Mars on Sept. 25, Reed Martin never left the field. The Mustangs senior lined up at wide receiver and running back on offense and at cornerback on defense. He punted, kicked off, converted extra points and returned kicks in the 49-21 win....
Freshman Brad Birch throws 6 TD passes as Jeannette rolls past LeechburgVideo
Jeannette possessed the ball eight times in the first half of its Eastern Conference matchup with Leechburg at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Jayhawks scored on seven of those possessions, led by 39 at halftime and rolled to a 60-14 victory. Jeannette, No. 3 in the Triblive HSSN Class A rankings,...
Burrell teams take to turf at refurbished stadium
The wait is over. More than four months after ground broke on the stadium project to install an artificial turf field, replace the track and upgrade other areas at Burrell’s Buccaneers Stadium, soccer and football teams will get the chance to compete on the new surface. The first game is...
WPISL teams continue push to league playoffs
The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League is winding toward the end of the varsity regular season, and the teams continue to battle for positioning in the team standings. Montour and Seneca Valley remain at the top of the standings at 9-1. The only blemishes on each team’s record came in...
A-K Valley football players to watch in Week 4
Ryan Hubner Plum, sr., QB Run plus pass equals win for the Mustangs signal caller so far in 2020. Against Mars last Friday, Hubner tossed a pair of touchdowns to Reed Martin and added a rushing score as Plum scored a convincing 49-21 road victory. He accounted for 176 total...
A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for Week 4
Class 5A northeast North Hills (1-2, 1-0) at Kiski Area (1-1, 0-1) 7 p.m. Friday, Richard J. Dilts Stadium, Allegheny Township Cavaliers standout Kenny Blake, hobbled by a sprained ankle early in Saturday’s loss to Penn Hills, returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown before leaving the game. Assistant coach...
Plum grad Alex Kirilloff becomes 1st position player in MLB history to record 1st big-league hit in postseason
First he got the call. Then he got the hit. Former Plum standout Alex Kirilloff recorded his first Major League hit Wednesday afternoon in the Minnesota Twins’ wild card matchup with the Houston Astros at Minnesota’s Target Field. Kirilloff delivered in the bottom of the fourth, scorching a pitch from...
Undefeated Fox Chapel works way through rigorous schedule
With two weeks and six games in the books, the Fox Chapel girls soccer team is making its mark in and out of Section 3-AAAA. The Foxes are 6-0 overall and 5-0 in the section. They stepped away from section play Tuesday and edged former section foe North Allegheny 2-1...
A-K Valley girls soccer notebook: Burrell looking forward to homecoming
The Burrell girls soccer team has hit the road in the early part of the season, waiting to play on the new turf field at Buccaneers Stadium. That wait is coming to an end. The Bucs, 4-0 overall and in Section 2-AA, are scheduled to play their home opener at...
Volleyball coaches association releases weekly rankings, players of the week
With two weeks of section and nonsection matches in the books, WPIAL girls volleyball teams in all four classifications prepare to turn their attention to the stretch run in October that leads to the scheduled start of the WPIAL playoffs the week of Oct. 26. The Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches...
With weapons galore, Gateway QB Carsen Engleka making strong return from broken arm
Carsen Engleka was making his case for playing time last year at quarterback in the Gateway offense when a bad break ended his sophomore season. The Gators’ 5-foot-11, 180-pound signal caller, a backup to starter Bryson Venanzio early in the 2019 season, was under center in the latter stages of...
