Michael Love stories, Page 18
Springdale girls soccer team reflects on impressive season
In the moments that turned into hours after Friday’s 4-3 loss to District 1 champion Dock Mennonite in the PIAA Class A championship game at Cumberland Valley’s Eagle View Middle School, Springdale girls soccer players remained upbeat despite the disappointment of coming up just short of the title. Coach Marc...
Gateway girls hungry to get back to winning ways
The numbers haven’t been pretty the past couple of seasons for the Gateway girls basketball team since making the WPIAL playoffs in 2020-21. The Gators own just 11 wins the past three seasons and were victorious twice last year in 22 games. The team enters this season hoping to snap...
Gateway boys basketball players step into increased roles after heavy graduation loss
A senior-laden Gateway boys basketball team was stopped by rival Franklin Regional in last year’s WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals. But the Gators rallied after the loss, and a dramatic down-to-the-wire home victory over Kiski Area in the seventh-place game propelled them to the state playoffs for the third year in...
Plum boys soccer players have ‘nothing to hang their heads about’
The Plum boys soccer team wanted to make waves in the PIAA Class 4A playoffs. It started out well for the Mustangs as they advanced past the first round Nov. 5 with a dramatic penalty-kick shootout win at District 10 champion McDowell. But they were not able to continue the...
Riverview runners continue to find success at PIAA championships
The Riverview boys cross country team has been a consistent commodity at the PIAA championships the past several seasons. The Raiders’ runner-up finish in the Class A race Nov. 2 in Hershey was the team’s fifth top-five placement in six years. Riverview hoped to follow up its WPIAL championship performance...
Plum tandem to continue football careers at St. Francis
With the emotions of his final high school football game — a loss to rival Penn Hills on Oct. 25 — still fresh in his mind, Plum senior Darian Slaughter decided to commit to where he will play football for the next four years. “That night, I called (St. Francis,...
After wild 2nd half, Dock Mennonite gets past Springdale to repeat as Class A state champs
MECHANICSBURG — There was a mix of tears in the eyes and pride in the hearts of the members of the Springdale girls soccer team in the moments following a 4-3 loss to District 1 champion Dock Mennonite in Friday’s PIAA Class A title game in Mechanicsburg. Dynamos coach Marc...
New Kensington to host 51st Pennsylvania Karate Championships
A tradition unlike any other in the Alle-Kiski Valley or Pittsburgh region continues this weekend. The 51st Pennsylvania Karate Championships, a keystone event since the early 1970s, returns Saturday to the grand ballroom of the Quality Inn in New Kensington. It is where the event began all those years ago....
Springdale girls soccer team blanks Seton LaSalle, advance to Class A state finals
For the fourth time in program history, the Springdale girls soccer team will play for a state championship. The Dynamos scored early, led by three goals at halftime, and added one more in the latter half of the second 40 minutes to come away with a 4-0 victory over Seton...
Springdale girls soccer team must get past Seton LaSalle for berth in PIAA title game
When the final seconds of Saturday’s PIAA Class A quarterfinal girls soccer game ticked off the clock, Springdale players began to erupt in celebration. The Dynamos had just finished off a hard-fought 2-1 victory over District 6 champion Bishop Guilfoyle at Indiana High School. Junior Hailey Marchlewski scored both goals,...
New coach among many changes for Apollo-Ridge girls basketball this season
The Apollo-Ridge girls basketball team experienced change several times in the offseason. The Lady Vikings had to say goodbye to a trio of starters: leading scorer and all-star Sophia Yard as well as Malea Veneziani and Jaden Mull. They also found out over the winter that they would be dropping...
After lean years, Apollo-Ridge boys basketball coach believes team is ready for big season
Winning has been hard to come by for the Apollo-Ridge boys basketball in recent seasons. The Vikings have seven victories combined the past three years and are mired in a 29-game section losing streak. But seventh-year coach Greg Fox is sounding the bell of optimism. “The enthusiasm and the way...
Gateway winter sports teams set to commence 2024-25 campaigns
The Gateway boys and girls basketball, swimming and wrestling teams have arrived at their WPIAL winter seasons as official preseason practices kick off Friday. The Gators athletes on those teams will join several thousand others in those sports on a journey that they hope will lead them to WPIAL gold...
Gateway’s Hunter Raymer has high expectations for final high school swim season
Hunter Raymer closed out his 2024 high school swim season at the PIAA championships with a pair of medals. The Gateway senior distance specialist took eighth in the Class 3A 200-yard individual medley and came back a day later to place fifth in the 500 freestyle. The time of 4...
Riverview boys soccer continued to make strides, capping 2024 season in playoffs
The Riverview boys soccer team had a breakout season in 2024 with 10 wins in the regular season and its first trip to the WPIAL playoffs since 2019. Coach Mickey Namey said his Raiders players represented themselves with a solid effort in a WPIAL Class A first-round game against No....
Plum girls soccer team reflects on another rewarding season
The Mars and Plum girls soccer teams met to decide the WPIAL Class 3A championship three straight years from 2019-21. The Fightin’ Planets won all three meetings, two at Highmark Stadium and a third at North Allegheny. The teams reunited at North Allegheny on Oct. 31 to decide this year’s...
Saints march on to WPIAL semifinals after rallying past No. 9 Highlands
Imani Christian is moving on. And it took a big rally for the No. 1 Saints to do it. Down 14 at halftime to No. 9 Highlands and shut out on the scoreboard, Imani came all the way back to score a 31-17 victory in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 11
Player of the week Jahmar Wright Highlands, jr., WR/DB Wright was right on both sides of the ball for the Golden Rams in last Friday’s WPIAL Class 3A first-round win at Southmoreland. He caught two passes from Menage Lucas for 55 yards. One of the catches was for 33 yards...
Semifinal berth on the line in rematch between Highlands, Imani Christian
Points were at an unexpected premium when Imani Christian and Highlands met at Wilkinsburg’s Graham Field on Sept. 20. Heading into the game, the Golden Rams were averaging 51.3 points, and the Saints were putting up 41.7 a contest. But it ended up being a defensive battle the whole way....
Springdale pulls out shootout win over Conemaugh Township in PIAA 1st round
The Conemaugh Township girls soccer team made a 90-minute trek west to Fox Chapel on Tuesday with the hopes of upending WPIAL champion Springdale. But the Dynamos didn’t allow the District 5 runner-up Indians the opportunity to come away with the PIAA Class A first-round win. In a game that...
Gateway runners gain experience at WPIAL championship meet
Piper Munyon ran on the White Oak Park cross country course for the first time Oct. 17 at the Tri-State Coaches Association championships. The Gateway freshman completed her race that day in 20 minutes, 22.33 seconds and placed 36th out of all of the WPIAL runners in the Class 3A...
Tough finish to regular season keeps Gateway out of WPIAL playoffs
Woodland Hills, Franklin Regional and Penn-Trafford finished as the top three teams in the Class 5A Big East Conference, and they earned the three automatic bids from the conference to the WPIAL playoffs which began last Friday. That left the three teams tied for fourth — Gateway, Kiski Area and...
A-K Valley football notebook: Highlands gets rematch with top-seeded Imani Christian
When the WPIAL football pairings for Class 3A came out last Saturday, Highlands players and coaches saw that there was the potential for a rematch with No. 1 Imani Christian in the quarterfinals. But to get that chance, they had to take care of business against Southmoreland in the first...
No. 2 Quaker Valley edges Burrell for 3rd WPIAL girls soccer crown
It had been 32 years since a Quaker Valley girls soccer team had won a WPIAL championship. The wait for the Quakers to hoist the title trophy again came to an end Saturday. Sophomore Anabel Miko and freshman Lily Baker scored goals in the second half for Class 2A No....
Riverview girls soccer caps season in WPIAL quarterfinals
With one WPIAL Class A playoff victory under its belt, the Riverview girls soccer team hoped for more when it tangled with No. 2 Seton-La Salle in a quarterfinal contest Oct. 26 at Dormont Stadium. Raiders coach Sean Abraham said his team was ready for the challenge, but in the...
