High School category, Page 812
Despite heavy turnover, expectations high for Sewickley girls tennis
In his 29th season at Sewickley Academy, Whitney Snyder went through one of the most challenging, bizarre years he’s experienced since establishing the Panthers’ girls tennis team as one of the premier programs in the district. And covid-19 was not the only obstacle. “I thought our team played tremendous considering...
2-time defending WPIAL girls champ, Quaker Valley golf teammates have title aspirations
For Eva Bulger, family reunions are a who’s who of accomplished WPIAL athletes. And she may just end up being the most decorated of them all. Bulger, a junior golfer at Quaker Valley, has won two straight WPIAL Girls Class 2A individual titles and has designs on a three-peat. She...
Penn-Trafford girls soccer team looking for a rebound
Things started well for first-year Penn-Trafford girls soccer coach Jim Mastroianni’s team in 2020. The season was going well, and then things fell flat. “Too much drama occurred,” Mastroianni said. “That spark and togetherness the team had vanished.” And so did the Warriors’ promising season. They went 5-6-2 and lost...
Penn-Trafford boys soccer team’s hopes looking up
The Penn-Trafford boys soccer team is used to being at or near the top of the section standings. But the past three seasons, the Warriors were closer to the bottom than the top, and they finished with a 2-9 record in Section 3-4A and 3-9 overall. It has been three...
Resilient Penn Hills girls volleyball team working to achieve goals
Taylor Slaughter has inspiration every time she heads into the Penn Hills girls volleyball team’s locker room. Before the season, Indians coach Jay Mitlo had the members of the team write their goals on sticky notes and they all put them up on the wall. For what Milto describes as...
Penn Hills junior motivated to return to WPIAL girls golf finals
Playing at Oakmont Country Club was more than enough to keep Penn Hills junior Lucy Brayton motivated. Brayton became the first Penn Hills girls golfer to qualify for WPIALs in 14 years last season and spent the time since fine-tuning her game. Now that Brayton set a new standard for...
Riverview soccer teams eager to be back on field
It’s been nearly two years since the Riverview boys and girls varsity soccer teams played games that counted in the WPIAL. That stretch, which included the entire 2020 season when low numbers prevented the teams from competing, came to an end when the Riverview boys faced section foe Eden on...
Plum girls volleyball aims to defend section championship
With the loss of eight seniors, including six who played major roles, from last year’s Section 1-3A championship team, Plum girls volleyball coach Kelsey Bonk knew coming into this season there would be a lot of competition for starting spots in the rotation. That competition through offseason workouts and into...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Sept. 4, 2021
Cross country Saturday’s results Gateway Invitational Boys Team: 1. Fox Chapel, 45; 2. Riverview, 64; 3. Baldwin, 116; 4. Kiski Area, 120; 5. Central Catholic, 128. Individual: 1. Jack Lorence, Fox Chapel, 18:02.83; 2. Brady Sundin, Gateway, 18:24.94; 3. Parker Steele, Riverview, 19:01.59; 4. Connor Pivirotto, Plum, 19L05.67; 5. Ethan...
High school roundup for Sept. 4, 2021: Laurel holds off Shenango
Kobe DeRosa, Mike Pasquarello and Luke McCoy had rushing touchdowns in the first half and Laurel (2-0) withstood a late comeback attempt to earn a 21-13 nonconference win at Shenango (0-2) on Saturday night. The Wildcats had the ball inside the Laurel 30 with less than two minutes remaining, but...
20 years later, events of 9/11 have lasting impact for Pittsburgh sports figures
Jason Kendall was relaxing at his home in Pittsburgh’s southwest suburbs when his phone rang about 9 a.m. on a sunny, seasonal, late-summer Tuesday. Seeing it was his brother calling, the then-Pittsburgh Pirates star catcher instinctively knew something was amiss. “You know how you get that phone call early enough,...
Trib HSSN high school football rankings: Sept. 5, 2021
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Central Catholic, 1-1, 1 2. Mt. Lebanon, 2-0, 2 3. North Allegheny, 1-1, 3 4. Seneca Valley, 1-1, 4 5. Canon-McMillan, 1-1, 5 Out: none Class 5A 1. Penn-Trafford, 2-0, 2 2. Gateway, 1-1, 1 3. Peters Township, 2-0, 5 4. Moon, 2-0,...
Leechburg plugs away in decisive win vs. Summit Academy
It wasn’t the start the Leechburg football team hoped for Saturday afternoon, with three turnovers in the first quarter, but once it settled down, it found a rhythm. The Blue Devils shook off the early mistakes and scored six touchdowns from the second quarter on to pull away for a...
McKeesport edges Woodland Hills in throwback showdown
For the better part of the second quarter Saturday afternoon, the scoreboard clock at McKeesport was not operational. For all of three quarters, fans may have thought the entire scoreboard wasn’t working — neither team registered a point. However, both teams broke through in the fourth quarter with one touchdown...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: Belle Vernon, Penn-Trafford set to clash
They don’t make nonconference matchups quite like this one. At least they didn’t used to. The WPIAL scheduled cross-classification games this season, meaning Class 5A teams play teams from 4A, among other matchups. It turned out to be a great idea for the league to create such an impressive matchup...
What we learned in Week 1 of H.S. football
More than two dozen WPIAL football teams are off to 2-0 starts, but the most exciting could belong to Shaler Area. The Titans hadn’t started 2-0 since 2009, when coach Neil Gordon still was walking the team’s sideline. In the 11 years since, the program has had one winning season...
Kicker Castle emerges as Norwin football’s secret weaponVideo
How did Norwin junior kicker Joe Castle get credit for four tackles and not hit anyone? Norwin coach Dave Brozeski credits the kicker with a tackle if his kickoff reaches the end zone for a touchback. Four of Castle’s six kickoffs did so Friday against Latrobe. He had a fifth...
George Guido: Leechburg to host 1st game at renovated stadium
The turf is down, and Leechburg (2-0) is set to host its first game at its renovated facility Friday against Brentwood (1-1) in a nonconference game. It’s either the 75th anniversary of Leechburg Veterans Stadium or the 75th year. Take your pick. Here’s what happened: Leechburg Borough, which owns the...
Loaded lineup has Pine-Richland cross country team thinking big
The Pine-Richland girls cross country team is hoping to set a gold standard this fall. With the top eight runners returning from a team that finished as the WPIAL runner-up in Class 3A a season ago, the Rams aspire to win the program’s first WPIAL and PIAA titles. “All of...
New coach means clean slate for powerful Norwin girls soccer program
New Norwin girls soccer coach Diane Metzger does not plan to have a starting lineup selected until a few days before the season opener. And when those starters are selected, their positions won’t be etched in stone. “No guarantees,” said Metzger, a Norwin grad and former Lady Knights player who...
Norwin boys soccer team has title run in its sights
Riley Zimmerman played only briefly in the WPIAL Class 4A boys soccer championship three years ago at Highmark Stadium, but the experience resonated with him. Then a Norwin freshman, Zimmerman recalls Knights coach Scott Schuchert telling him to remember the feeling, the atmosphere, the moment — to take it all...
North Allegheny notebook: Tigers defense sparks opening victory
The North Allegheny football team got off to a strong start on Aug. 27, taking down Allderdice, 47-14, in a nonconference home game. The Class 6A No. 3-ranked Tigers (1-0) forced four turnovers. Tyree Alualu recovered a fumble and had an interception. Luke Rumpler recovered a fumble, and Kyrell Hutcherson...
Underclassmen to play key roles for North Allegheny boys soccer
With few returning starters and a roster heavy in sophomores, North Allegheny coach Bobby Vosmaer told his boys soccer team to be ready. Other teams will test their toughness. “I think they’re going throw some guys at us just to kick the crapper out of us, so to speak,” Vosmaer...
Franklin Regional girls soccer has strong base to build on
With nine returning starters, Franklin Regional’s girls soccer team looks like it will have staying power this season. “We only graduated three seniors, so we have a very experienced team returning,” second-year coach Scott Arnold said. “With so many returning players, we are building up on where we finished last...
Top scorer Anthony DiFalco, Franklin Regional boys soccer teammates set lofty goals
Franklin Regional senior Anthony DiFalco has seen just about everything there is to see in high school soccer. He has won two WPIAL titles, finished as a runner-up and played in the PIAA semifinals twice. He’s been All-WPIAL, all-state and All-American. But even the best players want more. They always...
