Michael Love stories, Page 12

The Gateway football team was able to weather adversity over the first two weeks of the season, from injuries to key players and facing two of the top Class 6A teams in the state. But Gators coach Don Holl said strides were made through those first two weeks — losses...

Erica Bosh was hired as Gateway’s girls volleyball head coach in August, right before preseason practices started. She said the initial meeting with the team was positive, and it set the tone for what everyone wanted to accomplish. “We have eight seniors, so we have a lot of good leadership...

Last year, Shaler spoiled Plum’s 2-0 start by handing the Mustangs a 28-14 nonconference loss in Week 2. When the offseason alignments came out and Plum and Shaler both were placed in the Class 5A Northeast Conference, the Mustangs knew they had a guaranteed chance to avenge the setback. The...

There were high expectations coming into the 2024 season for the Riverview boys and girls cross country teams. Six Raiders boys runners returned from a team which captured the WPIAL Class A title last year and finished as the state runner-up in Hershey. The Riverview girls, the 2023 WPIAL runners-up...

Every third or fourth Saturday in September, one can expect a packed Plum High School gym with volleyballs flying all over the place. This Saturday will be no exception as the Mustang girls’ volleyball team again will host its annual tournament and welcome a dozen teams for a full day...

Riverview came to Leechburg’s Veterans Memorial Field on Friday hoping to halt a six-game losing skid to the Blue Devils in Eastern Conference play. But Leechburg wouldn’t hear of it. The Blue Devils held a four-touchdown lead at halftime, added on in the third and fourth quarter and came away...

With temperatures in the mid 70s, sunny skies, and a light breeze, runners from close to 40 teams from the Alle-Kiski Valley, Westmoreland County, throughout the WPIAL and City League, and from District 10 and District 6 descended on Northmoreland Park on Friday to test their mettle at the Gingerbread...

Scoring opportunities were at a premium Wednesday evening when cross-river rivals Riverview and Springdale met in a matchup of two of the top three ranked girls soccer teams in WPIAL Class A. The No. 1 Raiders and No. 3 Dynamos played nearly 90 physical and intense minutes on Springdale’s home...

Player of the week Alex Clawson Apollo-Ridge, jr., QB/DB Despite an 0-3 start to the season, the Vikings have been competitive, and Clawson, a first-year starter at quarterback, has been a big part of the work toward getting that first victory. Clawson has completed 48 of 69 passes for 631...

Deer Lakes will attempt to start a season 4-0 for only the second time in school history. Standing in the Lancers’ way is a Freeport team riding a wave of momentum after its two-day victory over Quaker Valley. The rivals know all about each other as consistent opponents, both in...

When last the Riverview and Springdale girls soccer teams met, the Raiders outlasted the Dynamos in a PIAA Class A quarterfinal classic at Plum en route to the state title game in Mechanicsburg. The win for Riverview completed a three-game season sweep. Coming back this season, a goal of the...

Justin Patton is on a roll in his professional mixed martial arts career. The 2012 Plum graduate has won six of his last seven fights and is on the doorstep of making it to the Ultimate Fighting Championships. He faces the No. 3-ranked featherweight in Pennsylvania, Ryan Cafaro, at 247...

Kairell McCoy ran competitive cross country meets for the first time while in middle school and has taken steps up the ladder ever since. Now the Gateway senior is hoping his final varsity season is his best yet. As a veteran on a young Gators team, McCoy wants to make...

It took an extra day, but Freeport was able to take care of its business against Quaker Valley at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. The teams returned to the field Saturday morning after lightning forced officials to postpone the game after only six minutes Friday evening. The Yellowjackets rolled from the...

Mother Nature didn’t allow the Freeport and Quaker Valley football teams to play much of their nonconference game Friday night at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. The teams were 5 minutes, 48 seconds into the contest when lightning first was spotted by game officials. The teams were ushered off the field...

The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League kicked off its 2024 season Sunday afternoon with four doubleheaders. Mt. Lebanon swept its way past Baldwin by a combined 34-5. North Allegheny and Bethel Park, Seneca Valley and Shaler, and Hempfield and Plum all split their opening two-game sets. Montour and West Allegheny...

The members of the Freeport girls soccer team took part in a light workout Thursday afternoon, less than 12 hours after producing a convincing 3-0 victory over Shady Side Academy in an early-season Section 2-2A clash at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. “We had some calf cramp issues at the end...

player of the week Colt Sprankle Knoch, jr., QB/DB The Knights didn’t get the results they were hoping for in a Week Zero loss to Kiski Area, but their fortunes turned around last Friday when they returned to the field. Sprankle was a main cog in the engine that produced...

The Freeport and Quaker Valley football teams are no strangers to one other. Friday’s 7 p.m. kickoff at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium will mark the third time in as many seasons the Quakers and Yellowjackets will meet in nonconference play. Freeport hopes to continue its dominance in the recent series...

When Brent Kennedy found out he would be enshrined as a member of the Kiski Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024, thoughts immediately turned back to when he made his mark on the Cavaliers cross country, track and field and soccer teams. His successes, he said, were made all...

Last year’s Pack the Park girls volleyball event and match between Norwin and Kiski Area at the Ellen Toy Grass Court in Vandergrift’s Kennedy Park didn’t face any adverse weather conditions such as what chased both teams inside Kiski Area High School one year earlier. The outdoor crowd who watched...

Maddy Neundorfer said her collegiate career has flown by, and the Gateway graduate and starting goalkeeper for the Division I Duquesne women’s soccer team hopes she is on course to make her final season with the Dukes her best yet. “I am super excited for this last season,” Neundorfer said....

The All-American Field House in Monroeville will play host to an evening of mixed martial arts competition on Sept. 14, and Allen Levine, the founder of Pittsburgh-based Coliseum Combat Zone, is excited to host what he feels will be a full evening of intense fight action. “I love promoting people...

The Riverview boys soccer team has made strides each season since the fall of 2021, when the program came back after a one-year hiatus because of low numbers. The Raiders, with several seasoned seniors and other underclassmen with experience in varsity matches, are ready to challenge for a WPIAL playoff...

The Plum boys golf team did something Aug. 26 it hadn’t done in 36 years. The Mustangs defeated Central Catholic in a dual match. Behind a score of 32 from senior standout Wes Lorish, Plum topped the Vikings, 198-203, on their home course at Willowbrook Country Club. It was a...