Michael Love stories, Page 19
Plum’s Wes Lorish caps decorated high school career at PIAA golf tournament
Wes Lorish had high hopes for his final PIAA Class 3A individual championship tournament. The Plum senior sought gold after losing out on the title in a tiebreaker last year. But despite his best efforts, he was not able to get to where he wanted to be during the two-day...
Drew Ross accounts for 5 TDs as Freeport returns to playoffs by beating Mt. Pleasant
Freeport made an impactful return to the WPIAL playoffs Friday. After a one-year postseason hiatus, the Yellowjackets returned to the WPIAL quarterfinals by rolling past Mt. Pleasant, 44-20, in a Class 3A first-round matchup at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. “I am really proud of the kids, especially from where we...
Fox Chapel, South Fayette both vying to defend WPIAL girls soccer titles
When the Fox Chapel and South Fayette girls soccer teams meet for the WPIAL Class 3A championship Saturday afternoon at Highmark Stadium, a back-to-back champion is guaranteed to be crowned. The Foxes (18-2-1) made a magical run last year as the No. 6 seed in the Class 4A bracket and...
No. 9 Burrell looks to cap run of upsets with 1st WPIAL girls soccer title
The Burrell girls soccer team made history Tuesday with its dramatic, down-to-the-wire WPIAL Class 2A semifinal victory over South Park at North Allegheny. The 3-2 win put the ninth-seeded Bucs in the WPIAL title game for the first time in program history. Burrell (14-5-1) has the chance to add on...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 10
Player of the week Jake Fleischer Deer Lakes, sr., QB After making his varsity starting debut in Week Zero and helping lead the Lancers to a tie for the most wins — eight — in a single season in program history, Fleischer will get his first chance to perform in...
Freeport faces familiar challenge against Mt. Pleasant in opening round of playoffs
The Mt. Pleasant and Freeport football teams are no strangers to one other. The Vikings and Yellowjackets met as nonconference foes the past two seasons and as members of the same conference as recently as 2019. The teams again will be back together on the same field Friday evening in...
A-K Valley schools to be well-represented at WPIAL soccer championships
There might be a bit more traffic than usual heading down Route 28 the next few days, as local soccer fans make their way to Highmark Stadium on the South Side. Of the 16 boys and girls soccer teams playing for WPIAL championships Thursday through Saturday, five are from the...
Fox Chapel locks in, beats Plum to return to WPIAL Class 3A championship game
Fox Chapel is heading back to Highmark Stadium for a shot at a second straight WPIAL championship. Sophomore Emily McKee and senior Maddie Grimsley tallied first-half goals for the top-seeded Foxes, senior Alyssa Quackenbush scored in the second half, and the defense limited the normally potent offensive attack of No....
Kiski Area to host 3rd We Serve First All-Star Classic girls volleyball game
The third annual We Serve First All-Star Classic, sponsored by the We Serve First Foundation, is set for Dec. 7 at Kiski Area High School. The event will celebrate and recognize the skills of 40 of the top senior girls volleyball players from 20 schools in the Alle-Kiski Valley and...
A-K Valley high school soccer playoff capsules for Oct. 29, 2024
WPIAL soccer playoffs Boys Class 4A Semifinals 1-Plum (16-0-3) vs. 4-North Allegheny (16-3-1) 6 p.m. Tuesday, Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium, Monroeville Winner plays: Winner of 2-Peters Township (16-1-1)/3-Fox Chapel (11-4-2) Oct. 31, Nov. 1 or Nov. 2 at Highmark Stadium in championship Corner kicks: These teams played to a 1-1 tie...
After long-awaited playoff victory, Gateway volleyball bows out to top-seeded Beaver
Gateway first-year girls volleyball coach Erica Bosh said her team’s trip to the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs showed just how far the team came since she arrived in August, and how hard they worked to come together and make a run to the postseason. The Gators saw their season come...
Gateway boys soccer makes 5th straight trip to playoffs, falls to Canon-McMillan
It wasn’t the way the Gateway boys soccer team wanted its WPIAL Class 4A first-round playoff game to play out. Homestanding Canon-McMillan, the eighth seed, scored quickly, developed a multi-goal advantage in the first half, and finished off a surprising 6-0 victory over the No. 9 Gators on Oct. 22....
Highlands joins Deer Lakes, Freeport, Leechburg from A-K Valley in football playoffs
Four Alle-Kiski Valley football teams will be a part of the WPIAL playoffs. Three of the four — Deer Lakes, Freeport and Leechburg — knew they were securely in the field by finishing high enough in their conference standings to earn an automatic berth. It was a slightly different story...
Tennis standout Ronit Yurovsky among 2024 inductees to Plum Sports Hall of Fame
The Plum High School Sports Hall of Fame will induct its Class of 2024 on Nov. 14, at Edgewood Country Club. This year’s inductees are Scott Benzel (Class of 1993), Nolan Cressler (2012), Andrew DeFazio (1995), Richard Foutz (1970), Scott McGough (2008), William Rometo (1970), William Wilmore (1990), Ronit Yurovsky...
Greensburg CC holds off Leechburg in Eastern Conference showdown
Second place in the Eastern Conference and a possible home playoff game were up for grabs between Leechburg and Greensburg Central Catholic on Friday at Leechburg Veterans Stadium. The Blue Devils and Centurions went down to the wire. The GCC defense made one final stand with just over a minute...
Bill Fralic among athletic greats to be inducted into Croatian American Sports Hall of Fame
Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania will be well represented as the Croatian American Sports Hall of Fame Committee welcomes 11 new members at a banquet ceremony Saturday evening at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center hotel Downtown. Legendary Pitt athletes Bill Fralic, Ralph Cindrich and Tim Grgurich will be joined by Penn...
Norwin boys win 2nd WPIAL cross country team title in school history
All season, Norwin cross country coach Brian Fleckenstein kept telling his runners they could beat North Allegheny. On Thursday, that’s exactly what they did. The Knights won their first team title since 1977, second in school history, by edging the Tigers for the WPIAL Class 3A boys title at White...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 9
Player of the week Landon Kucic Kiski Area, sr., RB/LB The 210-pound tailback continues to run hard for a Cavaliers team in the hunt for a wild-card berth in the Class 5A Big East Conference. Kucic tallied his third straight 100-plus rushing-yard performance last Friday in a 15-14 comeback win...
WPIAL cross country event has high stakes for A-K Valley runners
The journey to the WPIAL championships for hundreds of cross country runners and their teams concludes Thursday at White Oak Park. Individual and team gold and trips to the PIAA championships are on the line in six boys and girls races. The Riverview boys hope to return to the top...
Leechburg, Greensburg Central Catholic to battle for playoff seeding in Eastern Conference finale
A lot is on the line when Leechburg and Greensburg Central Catholic meet Friday in the Class A Eastern Conference finale for both teams. With the playoffs set to start next week, both teams want to go into the postseason on a roll. “It’s a huge game where the winner...
A-K Valley WPIAL soccer playoff capsules: Games for Oct. 24, 2024
WPIAL soccer playoffs Boys Class 2A Quarterfinals 13-Burrell (9-9) vs. 12-Seton LaSalle (13-4) 8 p.m. Thursday, Joe P. DeMichela Stadium, Imperial Winner plays: Winner of 1-South Park (17-1-1)/9-Central Valley (14-4) on Monday in semifinals Corner kicks: All five Burrell shooters scored in a shootout Monday as the Bucs upset No....
Deer Lakes girls soccer tops reigning WPIAL champ Avonworth
There will be a new WPIAL girls soccer champion in Class 2A. Deer Lakes, the No. 7 seed, got a goal from freshman Reese Waruszewski in the ninth minute of the second half, and that turned out to be enough as the homestanding Lancers eliminated three-time defending champion Avonworth, 1-0,...
Plum girls soccer takes care of business vs. Shaler in Class 3A 1st round
The Shaler girls soccer team hoped for a longer stay in its first WPIAL playoff tournament in close to four decades. But No. 4 Plum, a seasoned postseason program participating in the playoffs for the 13th year in a row, made sure the No. 13 Lady Titans’ season came to...
A-K Valley WPIAL soccer playoff capsules: Games for Oct. 22, 2024
WPIAL soccer playoffs Girls Class 2A First round 10-Avonworth (7-10-1) at 7-Deer Lakes (13-3-2) 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Lancers Stadium, West Deer Township Winner plays: Winner of 2-Quaker Valley (13-2-2)/15-Southmoreland (10-7) on Saturday in quarterfinals Corner kicks: Deer Lakes returns to the playoffs for the second year in a row after...
Gateway runners make strides heading into WPIAL cross country meet
Kairell McCoy ran to a time of 18 minutes, 31.8 seconds at last year’s WPIAL Class 3A cross country championships at White Oak Park. The time landed him 110th overall. Now, the Gateway senior has his sights set on a sizeable improvement in both time and placement. He will get...
