High School category, Page 1162
George Guido: Three A-K Valley football teams set for WPIAL playoffs
For the 60th consecutive season, the Alle-Kiski Valley will be represented in the WPIAL playoffs. Apollo-Ridge, Kiski Area and Fox Chapel will be playing in the postseason Friday. The last time a local team failed to make the postseason was 1959. Strangely, Springdale had one of its better teams that...
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...
AK Valley high school athletes of the week: Plum’s Kaitlyn Killinger and Deer Lakes’ Michael Sullivan
Kaitlyn Killinger Class: Fr. School: Plum Sport: Soccer Report card: Killinger scored twice and had an assist for No. 2 Plum in a 4-2 win over Hampton in the WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals on Thursday. She also was one of six girls that scored in penalty kicks in Plum’s 2-1...
WPIAL Football Team of the Week: Week 9
From 2012-17, the Shaler football program had five winless seasons and suffered through losing streaks of 34 in a row and 24 straight, going a combined 2-55 during those six years. Last year, the Titans broke through to finish 4-7 and earned a WPIAL playoff berth for the first time...
WPIAL soccer consolations and girls volleyball semifinals share Wednesday spotlight
Nowadays, everybody gets a second chance at something. In district consolation matches, that second chance is for gold. Teams may have missed out on a shot at a WPIAL championship, but win a consolation match and they’ll advance to the PIAA playoffs and a shot at a state title. Such...
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...
Girls volleyball quarters, field hockey finals share Tuesday WPIAL spotlight
If the four higher seeds in the WPIAL Class AA girls volleyball quarterfinals set for Tuesday are all victorious, that will set up a less-than-fresh final four for Thursday. Defending champion and top seed North Catholic faces Ellwood City, No. 2 seed Freeport takes on Hopewell, No. 3 seed Frazier...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Oct. 28, 2019
Field hockey WPIAL playoffs Class AAA Championship Monday’s result Pine-Richland 2, Peters Township 0 Class AA Championship Tuesday’s schedule Penn-Trafford vs. Latrobe at Fox Chapel, 7:30 p.m. Class A Championship Tuesday’s schedule Shady Side Academy vs. Ellis School at Fox Chapel, 6 p.m. Football WPIAL Playoffs Class 6A First round...
Choosing Washington or Avonworth for No. 1 seed among WPIAL’s toughest bracket picks
Choosing the No. 1 seeds was maybe easier than usual for the WPIAL football committee with one exception: Class 2A. There, the committee had three undefeated teams to pick from. Avonworth (10-0) played the strongest schedule with wins over six playoff teams. Burgettstown (9-0) had the stingiest defense, allowing only...
High school roundup for Oct. 28, 2019: Norwin, North Allegheny to meet for WPIAL Class AAAA girls soccer title
Pitt recruit Katelyn Kauffman scored the lone goal with 29 minutes, 44 seconds to play in the second half to propel top-seeded Norwin (18-1) to a 1-0 victory over No. 5 Seneca Valley (13-4-2) in a WPIAL Class AAAA girls soccer semifinal Monday night at North Allegheny. The defensive struggle...
Mars beats Belle Vernon, advances to 3rd straight WPIAL Class AAA championship
Top-seeded Mars entered Monday night’s WPIAL Class 3A semifinal matchup with No. 5 Belle Vernon having scored 14 goals in playoff wins over Trinity and Thomas Jefferson. The Leopards brought the Fighting Planets back to earth a bit by limiting their goal total, but it wasn’t enough to pull off...
Shady Side Academy earns spot in WPIAL Class A girls soccer finals
Callie Davis had a hat trick and Melissa Riggins scored twice as No. 3 Shady Side Academy scored a 5-1 victory over second-seeded Bentworth in a WPIAL Class A girls soccer semifinal matchup Monday night. The Bearcats (18-2) scored the opening goal of the game 14 minutes in before the...
Greensburg Central Catholic girls clip No. 1 Freedom in OT to reach WPIAL final
Jessica Nemeth said the final play seemed like it was in slow motion. “I ran in to get the cross first, and I had this sense of clarity,” the Greensburg Central Catholic junior midfielder said. “I one-touched it and it went in and we’re going to the championship. “It’s the...
Pine-Richland wins 2nd WPIAL field hockey title in 3 years
Top-seeded Pine-Richland and #No. 4 Peters Township met last season in the WPIAL Class 3A field hockey championship. The Indians earned the title with a 2-1 win in overtime on a penalty stroke. The championship was the first for Peters Township in nine years. The Rams didn’t have to wait...
Greensburg Salem trying to make history as WPIAL football playoff brackets revealed
Greensburg Salem football coach Dave Keefer said he couldn’t write a better script for his football team’s first-round game. The Golden Lions (5-5), who finished third in the Big Eight Conference, will open the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs at Blackhawk (6-4) with two huge opportunities in front of them. They...
Breaking down the 2019 WPIAL football playoffs
Class 6A Favorite: It’s hard to say. Central Catholic, Pine-Richland and North Allegheny finished in a three-way tie for the conference title. The WPIAL needed tiebreakers to determine their spots in the playoff bracket. Central Catholic received the No. 1 seed because it ranked first among the three in the...
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...
Apollo-Ridge, Kiski Area, Fox Chapel learn playoff opponents at WPIAL football pairings meeting
When the seedings of the WPIAL football playoffs were released Monday evening at the annual pairings meeting, three A-K Valley teams found out who they would be facing in the first round Friday night. Of the three, Apollo-Ridge was the only team to receive a first-round home game. After going...
Perennial powers earn top seeds for WPIAL football playoffs
Some of the winningest football programs in WPIAL history are favored to claim another title. WPIAL officials released the 2019 playoff pairings Monday night at the DoubleTree Hotel in Green Tree, and the top seeds were a who’s who of perennial powers. The group includes Class 6A top seed Central...
Runner disqualified over her hijab posts personal best time
TOLEDO, Ohio — A week after being disqualified over her hijab, a high school runner in Ohio came back with her best race ever. Sixteen-year-old Noor Abukaram finished the cross country season Saturday by posting her personal best time. Abukaram said she had been embarrassed a week ago after she...
2 from WPIAL picked for HS All-American soccer games
A pair of WPIAL soccer players were selected to play in the High School All-American games set for Dec. 7 in Orlando, Fla. Six district players were nominated but only Greensburg Central Catholic senior midfielder Nate Ward and Gateway senior goalkeeper Madisyn Neundorfer made the cut. Neundorfer is one of...
High school schedules for Oct. 28, 2019
High schools Field hockey WPIAL playoffs Class AAA Championship Monday’s schedule Pine-Richland vs. Peters Township at Fox Chapel, 6 p.m. Class AA Championship Tuesday’s schedule Penn-Trafford vs. Latrobe at Fox Chapel, 7:30 p.m. Class A Championship Tuesday’s schedule Shady Side Academy vs. Ellis School at Fox Chapel, 6 p.m. Soccer...
Longest WPIAL football playoff drought now belongs to Leechburg
And then there was one. With the longest playoff drought ending this fall, there is only one WPIAL football program that has not made the district playoffs this century. It has been 31 years since Leechburg qualified for the WPIAL football postseason. Back then, four classifications were in their early...
Football brackets, girls soccer semis and field hockey finals make for a busy Monday
For the high school football fan, Bracketology Day is like a kid on Christmas morning. The WPIAL will release brackets for the 2019 football playoffs Monday evening, and you can find out first what the matchups are by clicking on the WPIAL Playoff Pairings Show starting at 7 p.m. at...
