Michael Love stories, Page 80
Gateway hockey team snaps early skid
The Gateway junior varsity ice hockey team continues to navigate through the fall portion of its 2021-22 season, and the Gators added a point to its place in the standings with a 2-2 tie against North Hills on Nov. 8. Gateway rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to the Indians...
Injuries allow young players to gain experience for Riverview
The Riverview football team took its lumps on the scoreboard throughout the 2021 season, but coach Trevor George said the mix of veterans and young talent never wavered in their attitude and dedication to pushing past any adversities they faced. “Whatever happened on game day, win or lose, they approached...
Heart, grit help carry Plum to WPIAL football playoffs
The Plum football team lost to Hampton by 28 points in the regular season. To some, that Greater Allegheny Conference result, 35-7 on Oct. 8 at Plum, might have been a foreshadowing of things to come when the WPIAL football playoff committee paired the Talbots and Mustangs for the Class...
Plum girls soccer team tops Mechanicsburg in PIAA quarters
The record-setting season for the Plum girls soccer team continues. The Mustangs trailed District 3 champion Mechanicsburg just two minutes into Saturday’s PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal at Hollidaysburg. But second-half tallies from junior Camryn Rogers and sophomore Ava Weleski lifted Plum into the state semifinals with a 2-1 win over...
Rochester football team pulls away for win over Springdale
Rochester and Springdale were knotted at seven at halftime of Friday’s WPIAL Class A quarterfinal at Freedom’s Jimbo Covert Field. But the Rams grabbed the lead early in the third and added a pair of scores in the fourth to finalize a 27-7 victory. “Springdale is a good football team....
Plum girls soccer not satisfied as they head into state quarterfinals
The Plum girls soccer team is in uncharted territory, but at the same time, it has set its course for a familiar destination. For the first time in program history, the Mustangs will play a PIAA quarterfinal game. Plum faces District 3 champion Mechanicsburg at 1 p.m. Saturday. “It is...
A-K Valley PIAA soccer quarterfinal capsule for Nov. 13, 2021
PIAA Girls Soccer Class 3A Quarterfinals Plum (20-2-1) vs. Mechanicsburg (18-3-2) 1 p.m. Saturday at Hollidaysburg High School, Hollidaysburg Winner plays: Winner of 7-1 Mars (17-0-1)/7-3 Montour (16-7) on Tuesday in semifinals (Site and time TBD) Notes: Plum punched its ticket to the quarterfinals with a 3-1 victory over District...
Annual Pennsylvania Karate Championships set to test the best Saturday
Saturday’s 48th annual Pennsylvania Karate Championships are going back to where it all began. The Quality Inn in New Kensington, formerly the Clarion Inn, will provide the setting for the event, and co-organizer Master Frank Caliguri from Caliguri’s Academy of Martial Arts in Lower Burrell said this year’s event will...
Springdale aims for revenge against No. 5 Rochester in WPIAL quarterfinals
Springdale and Rochester are no strangers to each other, even though the Dynamos and Rams have played only four times in their respective histories. All four matchups were playoff games, and the teams clashed just last year in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A tournament. Rochester topped Springdale, 34-17,...
A-K Valley football players to watch for 2021 Week 11
Legend Ausk Springdale, Sr., QB/LB The dual-threat capabilities of the veteran signal-caller have the Dynamos thinking big things in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals. In last Friday’s shutout victory over No. 4 West Greene, Ausk threw for 54 yards and a touchdown. He now has 12 passing scores and another...
Plum beats District 6 champ Hollidaysburg for program’s 1st PIAA playoff victory
HOLLIDAYSBURG — The Plum girls soccer team threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Hollidaysburg net, and Tigers freshman keeper Natalie Foster in the first half during a PIAA Class AAA first-round game Tuesday at Hollidaysburg. Plum delivered 14 shots, including seven on goal, over the first 40 minutes....
Plum girls soccer team gets shot at redemption in PIAA 1st round
Kaley Simqu was a starter at Cedar Crest High School two years ago for Plum’s PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game against District 3 champion Manheim Central. Now a junior, the midfielder/defender and a number of other current Mustangs teammates experienced the heartbreak of a shootout loss to the...
A-K Valley PIAA girls soccer playoff capsules for Nov. 9, 2021
Class 3A First round 7-2 Plum (19-2-1) at 6-1 Hollidaysburg (13-8) 6 p.m. Tuesday at Hollidaysburg High School Winner plays: Winner of 3-1 Mechanicsburg/12-2 St. Hubert’s in quarterfinals Saturday (site and time TBD) Plum enters the state playoffs after a runner-up finish to Mars in Saturday’s WPIAL title game at...
Freeport, Plum finally cross paths in PIAA first-round volleyball match
The Plum and Freeport girls volleyball teams shared a gym four times this season but never played an official match against each other. The Mustangs and Yellowjackets did scrimmage in mid-August, but they missed each other at the Plum and Freeport tournaments. The teams also got a chance to see...
Persia leads Plum runners at WPIAL championship meet
Ashley Persia ran her final high school cross country race Oct. 28 at the WPIAL championships, and the Plum senior made her move throughout the race and finished 48th in Class 3A at Cal (Pa). While Persia didn’t reach her goal of a trip to states, Mustangs’ coach Stephanie Lednak...
Plum girls volleyball turns attention to PIAA playoffs
The Plum girls volleyball team had its sights set on the WPIAL Class 3A championship game as it faced Hampton in the semifinals Nov. 2 at Gateway. The Mustangs won a pair of close games, 26-24, to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the match. However, the Talbots rallied...
Gateway’s Madi Jesih commits to play soccer at Robert Morris
In less than two years, Gateway junior Madi Jesih will trade Gators black and gold for Robert Morris red, white and blue. The talented center defensive midfielder recently gave a verbal commitment to continue her athletic pursuits at the next level with the Division I Colonials women’s soccer team. “I...
Behind young roster, Gateway boys soccer looks forward to promising future
It wasn’t the way the Gateway boys soccer team wanted to close out its 2021 season. The Gators finished third in Section 4-3A and were the No. 11 seed for the WPIAL playoffs. Gateway played even with No. 6 Kiski Area for the first half of their first-round matchup Oct....
Second-half surge lifts Freeport over Ambridge, into WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals
It took Freeport a quarter to get its offense going Friday night in a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game against Ambridge at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. The No. 5 Yellowjackets broke out for a pair of second-quarter touchdowns – one rush and one pass – to take the lead at...
Freeport, Hampton meet for third time, this time with WPIAL title on the line
The first two matchups between the Freeport and Hampton girls volleyball teams were five-game slugfests that decided the Section 5 championship. The Talbots won the first match at home, but the Yellowjackets returned the favor at Freeport Middle School a couple of weeks later. The teams ended up sharing the...
A-K Valley football players to watch in 2021 Week 10
Logan Brooks Plum, Sr., WR/DB Brooks has been key part of the Mustangs passing game all season, but he picked up his pace the past several weeks with a combined 23 catches for 263 yards and three touchdowns against Knoch, Armstrong and Greensburg Salem. He hauled in 11 passes for...
A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for 2021 Week 10
Class 5A First round 10-Fox Chapel (4-6) at 7-Upper St. Clair (6-4) 7 p.m. Friday, at Panther Stadium, Upper St. Clair Township Winner plays: At 2-Penn-Trafford in quarterfinals Nov. 12, 7 p.m. Fox Chapel returns to the WPIAL playoffs after a one-year hiatus. The Foxes are part of the postseason...
Freeport fends off Armstrong in Class 3A volleyball thriller
The Freeport girls volleyball team is back in the WPIAL championship game. The top-seeded Yellowjackets lost the first game of their WPIAL Class 3A semifinal match with section rival and fifth-seeded Armstrong on Tuesday. But Freeport won three of the remaining four games, including the deciding Game 5 by a...
Hampton girls volleyball uses big rally to defeat Plum
In a Section 5 match with Armstrong late in the regular season, the Hampton girls volleyball team found itself down 2-0. The Talbots were able to mount a rally that night and pull out a win. It helped them finish in a tie for the section title. Hampton was in...
Alle-Kiski Valley WPIAL soccer playoff capsules for Nov. 3, 2021
Boys Class 3A Consolation game Plum (17-3-1) vs. Franklin Regional (15-4) 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Pete Antimarino Stadium, Gateway, Monroeville The winner of this third-place game between Section 4 foes will advance to the PIAA playoffs, which begin next Tuesday around the state. Fourth-seeded Plum took top-seeded and undefeated West...
