Michael Love stories, Page 49

The Freedom girls soccer team is back on top in WPIAL Class A. The top-seeded Bulldogs scored once in the first half and added two more over the second 40 minutes to finish off a 3-0 victory over No. 2 Springdale in the Class A championship game Friday at Highmark...

Gabe Kavulic didn’t run cross country last year as a freshman. It was soccer with the Apollo-Ridge-Leechburg co-op all the way. But following a promising track and field season in the distance events last spring, the Apollo-Ridge sophomore was encouraged to give cross country a shot. Kavulic became a two-sport...

Springdale’s Molly Hurley has had a knack for scoring goals in her breakout sophomore season. She has two of them in the playoffs: one against Sewickley Academy in a 3-2 first-round victory and another one to open the scoring in Monday’s 5-0 victory over No. 6 Waynesburg that sent the...

The Deer Lakes boys soccer team made an early exit from the WPIAL playoffs last year, falling as the No. 7 seed to East Allegheny, 2-1, in the first round. The returning players, including the seven Lancers seniors, veteran forward Ryan Hanes said, dedicated themselves to getting back to the...

Nick Cristillo Deer Lakes, sr., TE/LB If there is a play to be made on defense, Cristillo is up for the challenge. The linebacker owns 101 tackles through 10 games and posted a trio of interceptions — one each in wins over Knoch and Southmoreland and a third in the...

Class 3A First round 10-Deer Lakes (4-6) at 7-Beaver (7-3) 7 p.m. Friday, at Gypsy Glen Stadium, Beaver Winner plays: At 2-Avonworth (9-1) in quarterfinals 7 p.m. Nov. 11 Players to watch: Derek Burk, senior, QB/DB, Deer Lakes; Liam Gibson, senior, RB/WR/LB, Beaver Extra points: Deer Lakes and Beaver met...

WPIAL girls soccer playoffs Class 3A Third-place consolation 3-Plum (16-2) vs. 5-Latrobe (12-3-2) 6 p.m. Thursday, at Norwin High School, North Huntingdon Winner plays: District 8/District 10 champion in first round of PIAA playoffs. Loser plays: WPIAL champion, either Moon or Mars, in PIAA first round. Players to watch: Ella...

It’s been 15 years since the South Fayette girls volleyball team last played for a WPIAL championship. But that drought will come to an end Saturday at Robert Morris University’s UPMC Events Center. The Lions punched their ticket to the Class 3A championship match and a matchup with No. 1...

The Deer Lakes boys soccer team is heading back to the WPIAL championship game. The Lancers got a goal from senior forward Ruger Beer with exactly 27 minutes left in the second half, and the Deer Lakes defense made it stand up in a 1-0 victory over South Park in...

Last year, the Springdale girls soccer team was denied a trip to Highmark Stadium to play for a WPIAL championship with a loss to Steel Valley in the semifinals. There was no denying the Dynamos on Monday in a WPIAL Class A semifinal against No. 6 Waynesburg at Peters Township’s...

GIRLS Class 3A Semifinals 3-Plum (16-1) vs. 2-Moon (18-0) 8 p.m. Tuesday, at Antimarino Stadium, Monroeville Winner plays: Winner of 1-Mars (16-0)/5-Latrobe (12-2-2) in championship game Saturday at Highmark Stadium (time TBD) Players to watch: Cam Rogers, F, Plum; Eva Molnar, M, Moon Corner kicks: Plum has arrived in the...

WPIAL soccer playoffs preview Boys Class 3A Semifinals 2-Plum (18-1-1) vs. 11-Ambridge (13-6-1) 6:15 p.m., West Allegheny’s Joe P. DiMichela Stadium, North Fayette Winner plays: Winner of 1-Moon (18-0-1)/13-Montour (12-4-4) Saturday in WPIAL championship at Highmark Stadium (time TBD) Coaches: Raf Kolankowski, Plum; Kevin Amos, West Allegheny Players to watch:...

The Gateway and Laurel Highlands girls volleyball teams were paired up as the No. 16 and No. 17 seeds in a WPIAL Class 3A preliminary-round game Oct. 24 at Hempfield High School. And the match played out as close as the seedings set it up to be. Each of the...

The Gateway boys soccer team went toe-to-toe with No. 5 Kiski Area into the second half of a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game Oct. 22 at Kiski Area before the Cavaliers netted a pair of goals to score a 2-0 victory. Despite the setback, Gateway coach Bernie Stiles was pleased...

The Plum girls volleyball team saw its season come to a close last Wednesday with a 3-0 loss to No. 5 Montour in a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game at Montour High School. The Mustangs, runners-up to Hampton in Section 1 with a 10-2 record, fell with set scores of...

Faced with a four-game losing streak and needing a spark, the Plum football team got what it was looking for in a Week 8 game against Hempfield on Oct. 21. The Mustangs broke open a tie game at halftime with a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter. Those scores...

Call it the Avenue to Acrisure. The road to the WPIAL championship games has been set for all of the playoff-qualifying teams, including the six that made it in from the Alle-Kiski Valley: Highlands, Freeport, Leechburg, Deer Lakes, Apollo-Ridge and Burrell. The Golden Rams (9-1) defeated Hampton on Friday to...

Apollo-Ridge controlled its own destiny for a spot in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs heading into Friday’s Allegheny Conference finale at Burrell. Vikings senior Nick Curci carried the ball 22 times for 148 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback Gage Johnston and Jake Mull surpassed 100 yards passing and receiving,...

The Big East Youth Football League has reached its playoff semifinals. Matchups in all four divisions are set for Sunday at Gateway and Penn-Trafford high schools. The championship games are slated for Nov. 6 Big East Youth Football League Playoff schedule Sunday, Oct. 30 Semifinals Flag (Ages 5-6) No. 3...

The Shaler and North Allegheny slow-pitch softball teams finished the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League regular season as the top two squads in the 14-team standings. The Titans and Tigers navigated through the postseason tournament and met for the title. Shaler outlasted North Allegheny, 12-7, in the championship game Sunday...

Area high school girls volleyball seniors, and the game itself, will be celebrated Dec. 10 as the inaugural We Serve First All-Star Classic will be at Kiski Area High School. The event will highlight the skills of 38 seniors from 19 high schools from throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley and surrounding...

Brownsville senior Jolena Quarzo became the 12th girl to win three WPIAL cross country titles when she won the Class 2A race Thursday at Roadman Park at Cal (Pa.). Latrobe’s Natalie Bower (Toman) and Vincentian’s Marianna Abdallah are the only four-time winners. Bower won from 2005-2008 in Class 3A and...

For the first time since 2018, both the Riverview boys and girls cross country teams will run at the PIAA meet in Hershey after they each claimed third place in their Class A races at the WPIAL championships Thursday on the Roadman Park course at Cal (Pa.). The Raiders boys...

The Riverview boys cross country team struck WPIAL gold last year as it won the Class A crown after five straight runner-up finishes to Winchester Thurston. Three of the top four finishers from the 2021 team, which took third at the PIAA championships, graduated. But senior Division I recruit Amberson...

Nick Curci Apollo-Ridge, sr., RB/LB The Vikings head into Friday’s Allegheny Conference finale against Burrell with a playoff spot on the line, and Curci hopes to be a difference maker in that clash. He certainly was that last week as Apollo-Ridge upset Serra Catholic in overtime, 43-36. Curci, who didn’t...