Michael Love stories, Page 124
A-K Valley girls soccer capsule for Oct. 30
WPIAL Class AA Third-place consolation 8-Freeport (16-5) vs. 3-South Park (13-4-1) 6 p.m. Wednesday at Mars Winner plays: The District 5 or 6 champion Nov. 5 in the first round of the PIAA tournament Coaches: Brittni Grenninger, Freeport; Shelly Thropp, South Park Players to Watch: Aleah Parison, Fr., F, Freeport;...
Knoch girls volleyball digs deep, overcomes injuries to advance in WPIAL playoffs
Having two all-state volleyball players missing from a rotation might derail any number of teams, but the Knoch girls squad has used its depth and veteran leadership to stay in the WPIAL playoff mix. Playing without seniors Hannah Rowe and Kennedy Christy, their two top hitters, because of injury, the...
Freeport sweeps past Hopewell to earn spot in WPIAL semifinals
The Freeport girls volleyball team keeps on rolling. The Yellowjackets, the No. 2 seed in the WPIAL Class AA playoffs, punched their ticket to the semifinals for the seventh straight season with a dominant 3-0 victory over No. 10 Hopewell on Tuesday at North Hills. Freeport held off the Vikings...
Freshman McKenzie Pritts scores twice, Yough blanks Freeport to reach WPIAL title game
The Yough girls soccer team recorded only two shots on goal over the first 43 minutes of its WPIAL Class AA semifinal against Freeport on Monday at Mars. But the Cougars made both shots count as they built a two-goal advantage. Yough added a goal later in the second half...
Surprising Freeport girls ‘want it all’ entering WPIAL soccer semifinalsVideo
Akina Boynton scored 11 goals during the regular season to help the Freeport girls soccer team to a 14-4 overall record, a runner-up finish in Section 2-AA and the No. 8 seed for the WPIAL playoffs. But perhaps none of those goals had the pressure or impact as the one...
A-K Valley girls soccer preview capsules: Games of Monday, Oct. 28, 2019
Monday’s games Girls Semifinals Class AAA 3-West Allegheny (15-2) vs. 2-Plum (16-1-1) 8 p.m. Monday at Mars Winner plays: Winner of 1-Mars (16-0-1)/5-Belle Vernon (16-3) in the championship at Highmark Stadium (time, date TBD). Coaches: Dave Tissue, West Allegheny; Jamie Stewart, Plum Players to Watch: Mackenzie Taranto, Jr., F, West...
A-K Valley football notebook: Late-season surge gets Kiski Area in playoffs
A series of playoff scenarios were on the table in the Class 5A Northern Conference entering Friday’s Week 9 games. First and foremost on Kiski Area’s mind was a win over rival Armstrong in its regular-season finale. Secondary was what Mars and Fox Chapel did in their games. The main...
Leechburg holds off Springdale in ’emotional’ victoryVideo
Last year, Leechburg defeated Springdale to cap its first non-losing season since 1991. The Blue Devils faced a similar scenario at home Friday at Veterans Memorial Stadium as they needed to beat the Dynamos to finish at .500. The Eastern Conference rivals lit up the scoreboard throughout the 48 minutes,...
PIAA girls tennis roundup: Fox Chapel, Knoch, Sewickley Academy advance to semifinals
The Fox Chapel girls tennis team remained alive for a PIAA championship Friday with a 3-2 victory over District 1 champion Unionville at Hershey Racquet Club. The Foxes (16-2) advance to Saturday’s semifinals and will face District 3 champion Manheim Township at 9:30 a.m. They are the only WPIAL team...
Mt. Lebanon’s Patrick Anderson betters own course record, captures first WPIAL titleVideo
Patrick Anderson started this season by setting a course record at the Marty Uher Invitational on the Roadman Park course at Cal (Pa.). He turned in a time of 15 minutes, 54.40 seconds that day in late August. Anderson bettered that time in a return to Roadman for last week’s...
Knoch girls cross country team makes leap forward at WPIAL meet
Sammy Jo Barnes qualified for the PIAA cross country championships individually the past two seasons. The Knoch senior made it three in a row Thursday at Cal (Pa.) with a fifth-place finish (20 minutes, 27 seconds) in the Class AA girls race. Barnes was hoping for a little bit more,...
A-K Valley campus clippings: PSNK soccer team cruises into semifinals
The Penn State New Kensington men’s soccer team, seeded third in the Penn State University Athletic Conference Tournament, rolled into the semifinals with a 7-1 victory Wednesday over Penn State Scranton. Sophomore Nolan Johngarlo (Kiski Area) had a goal and an assist, and junior Mitchell Kuczynski (St. Joseph) scored. Johngarlo...
A-K Valley football players to watch in Week 9
Jake Blumer Leechburg, sr., RB/LB The Blue Devils’ workhorse ball carrier ran wild against Bentworth to the tune of 242 yards and four touchdowns on 19 carries in last Friday’s dominant 46-13 victory. For the season, Blumer has 822 yards and 14 scores on 131 rushing attempts. Jack Dykes Kiski...
A-K Valley don’t-miss football matchups for Week 9
Class 5A Northern Armstrong (1-7, 0-6) at Kiski Area (4-5, 3-3) 7 p.m. Friday at Richard J. Dilts Field, Allegheny Township Last week: Fox Chapel 41, Armstrong 14; Kiski Area 10, Mars 7 Coaches: Frank Fabian, Armstrong; Sam Albert, Kiski Area Players to watch: Cole Brown, Armstrong (Jr., 6-1, 170,...
A-K Valley WPIAL girls soccer capsules: Games of Oct. 24, 2019
Girls soccer Quarterfinals Class AAAA 9-Fox Chapel (10-7-1) at 1-Norwin (16-1) 8 p.m. Thursday Winner plays: Winner of 4-Moon (15-2-1) and 5-Seneca Valley (12-3-2) on Monday in the semifinals Coaches: Peter Torres, Fox Chapel; Lauren Karcher, Norwin Players to watch: Lucy Ream, Jr., F, Fox Chapel; (Katelyn Kauffman, So., MF/F,...
Riverview ready to take a run at WPIAL cross country favorites
The Riverview boys cross country team finished runner-up to Winchester Thurston in Class A at WPIALs each of the past three seasons. The Raiders, led by juniors Mason Ochs and Gideon Deasy, would like to overtake the Bears on Thursday as the championships return to the Roadman Park course at...
Burrell girls soccer continues dominance with easy win over Mt. Pleasant
The Burrell girls soccer team’s dominance in the regular season extended to Monday’s WPIAL Class AA first-round game against Mt. Pleasant at Kiski Area. The undefeated fourth-seeded Bucs led 4-0 at halftime and cruised to a 5-0 victory over the 13th-seeded Vikings. “We will take this win and move forward...
WPIAL unveils girls volleyball playoff brackets
North Allegheny, Knoch, North Catholic and Bishop Canevin earned top seeds in their respective classifications as the WPIAL released girls volleyball playoff brackets Monday. In Class AAAA, second-seeded Pine-Richland, No. 3 Canon-McMillan and No. 4 Moon will join a field of 12 hoping to unseat the Tigers, who are searching...
Plum tops Montour to claim fall baseball league title
Plum shut out Montour, 5-0, Sunday afternoon at Norwin to capture the Western Pennsylvania Fall Baseball League’s varsity title. The Mustangs went 3-0 in the playoffs and finished 12-2-1 overall to capture the program’s third fall title since 2014. “The league was very competitive this year,” Plum coach Carl Vollmer...
Coaches association releases final WPIAL girls volleyball rankings
The WPIAL girls volleyball regular season has concluded, and the playoff pairings will be released early Monday afternoon. The journey to the finals at Fox Chapel is about to begin. The Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its final classification rankings and players-of-the- week recognition Monday. Class AAAA 1. North...
Unbeaten Burrell ready for obstacles in WPIAL Class AA girls soccer playoffsVideo
Burrell capped its regular season last Tuesday with a 5-1 victory over playoff-bound Highlands. Then the Bucs, who were 16-0 after defeating the Rams and won the program’s first section championship since 2005, settled in to find out where they would be seeded in the WPIAL Class AA girls soccer...
A-K Valley girls soccer playoff capsules: Games for Monday, Oct. 21, 2019
Monday’s games Girls soccer First round Class AAAA 9-Fox Chapel (9-7-1) at 8-Upper St. Clair (11-5) 8:15 p.m. Monday at Upper St. Clair Winner plays: 1-Norwin on Thursday in quarterfinals Coaches: Peter Torres, Fox Chapel; Dave Gray, Upper St. Clair Players to Watch: Lucy Ream, Jr., M/F, Fox Chapel; Marissa...
Alle-Kiski Valley football notebook: No place like home for Apollo-Ridge
Apollo-Ridge could have clinched a home first-round playoff game last week against Steel Valley, but the Vikings were upset by the Ironmen. Everything turned out in the Vikings’ favor Friday as they secured that home game and second place in the 2A Allegheny Conference when Shady Side Academy lost to...
Highlands logs senior-night overtime win vs. New CastleVideo
When New Castle traveled to Highlands’ Golden Rams Stadium two years ago, the Red Hurricanes escaped with a 48-47 victory in two overtimes. On Friday in Natrona Heights, the teams played another overtime game, and this time, the home team left the field victorious. Highlands took the lead on a...
Plum’s Mascilli, Valotta seek big jump at WPIAL championship meet
Justin Mascilli finished 51st in the boys Class AAA race at last year’s WPIAL cross country championships on the Roadman Park course at Cal (Pa.). It was a 49-place improvement from his sophomore finish. Mascilli enters his final WPIAL competition Thursday eyeing another big jump in the standings and also...
