Michael Love stories, Page 60
Freeport trounces West Mifflin in WPIAL quarterfinals
Freeport didn’t let persistent rain showers or West Mifflin slow it down in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal Friday at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. The Titans scored first, but the Yellowjackets scored more often and rolled to a 42-6 victory. “I am so very proud of the boys,” Freeport coach...
Plum girls soccer team ready for another crack at Moon in PIAA playoffs
The Moon girls soccer team did to Mars what no other team had done in 80 previous matchups with the Planets. The Tigers posted a 1-0 victory at Highmark Stadium last Saturday to win the WPIAL Class 3A title and end Mars’ monumental win streak. Moon also denied the Planets...
Freeport QB Croney acquitting himself well as starter
Gavin Croney’s only varsity snap as a quarterback last year didn’t quite go as planned With starter Ben Lane out of the lineup for the WPIAL Class 3A first-round game against Ambridge, Croney found himself under center for a play in the first quarter. “It was a handoff, and it...
Pennsylvania Karate Championships return to A-K Valley
Two years ago, the Pennsylvania Karate Championships were called off in the midst of the ongoing covid pandemic. It stopped the event’s annual gathering of the top martial artists from throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley as well as the Pittsburgh region, the state and the country. But the championships returned in...
Alle-Kiski Valley athletes join in national signing day
Levi Hansen hopes to swim like a king in the Queen City. The Kiski Area senior turned a verbal commitment to the Cincinnati men’s swim team into a signed, sealed and delivered promise Wednesday morning during the first day of the National Letter of Intent signing period for every Division...
Freeport girls volleyball team sweeps into state quarterfinals
The Freeport girls volleyball team celebrated what likely was its final home game of the season in dominant fashion. The WPIAL champion Yellowjackets swept past District 10 runner-up Corry on Tuesday in a PIAA Class 2A first-round match at Freeport Middle School. “I loved having that one more game at...
A-K Valley campus clippings: Kiski Area grad Alexis Moyer earns 4th all-conference honor
Kiski Area graduate Alexis Moyer recently made history for the Clarion women’s soccer team. The fifth-year senior defender became the first Golden Eagles player to earn four all-conference honors for a career. She was named second-team All-PSAC West for 2022. Moyer started and played in all 73 games over her...
A-K Valley PIAA soccer preview capsules: Games for Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022
Boys Class 3A First round Plum (19-2-1) vs. Cathedral Prep (16-1-1) 6 p.m. Tuesday, Hagerty Family Events Center, Erie Winner plays: Winner of Moon (20-0-1)/Palmyra (18-3-1) in PIAA quarterfinals Saturday (site, time TBD) District seeds: Plum 7-3, Cathedral Prep 10-1 Coaches: Raf Kolankowski, Plum, Sam Tojaga, Cathedral Prep Players to...
After WPIAL title, Freeport volleyball team seeks second state championship
Freeport girls volleyball hasn’t lost to a Class 2A team this season. The Yellowjackets were No. 1 in the Western Pennsylvania Coaches Association rankings from beginning to end, they rolled through Section 5-2A undefeated and they won 12 of 13 sets in the WPIAL tournament to win the program’s second...
Plum Stallions capture AYFL 10U championship
Plum Midget Football Association teams went 1-1 in Super Bowl championship games as the Allegheny Youth Football League wrapped up its 2022 season Oct. 29. The Stallions (10U) completed an undefeated season (10-0) with a 13-0 win over Lower Burrell in the championship game at Bushman Field in Natrona Heights....
Gateway grad Brady Sundin named PAC Newcomer of the Year for Saint Vincent cross country
The Saint Vincent men’s cross country team collected a pair of top-10 finishes and three in the top 20 to finish fourth at the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championships Oct. 29 on its home course near campus in Latrobe. One of those top-10 finishes came from Gateway graduate Brady Sundin, who...
Gateway rides strong finish into postseason
The Gateway football team transitioned from a wild and hectic regular season to the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs Friday as it was slated to host Upper St. Clair in the first round at Antimarino Stadium. The Gators earned one of the two automatic postseason berths from the Big East Conference...
Steady ground game helps Riverview football continue to improve
The Riverview football team took a step forward in 2022 as it captured four victories in a season for the first time since 2015. Third-year coach Trevor George said the 4-6 overall record was the work of a total team effort to get better in practice each week and on...
Freedom girls soccer team rolls past Springdale for WPIAL Class A title
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...
Apollo-Ridge’s Gabe Kavulic will cap 1st foray into cross country at PIAA championships
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 girls soccer team seeks 3rd WPIAL title
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...
Deer Lakes carries growing confidence into WPIAL finals matchup with Beaver
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...
A-K Valley football players to watch in 2022 Week 10
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...
A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for 2022 Week 10
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...
Westmoreland, A-K Valley WPIAL soccer playoff capsule: Game for Nov. 3, 2022
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...
South Fayette beats Latrobe in WPIAL volleyball semis
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...
Deer Lakes boys post another 1-0 win, go back to WPIAL soccer final
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...
Springdale girls soccer blanks Waynesburg to achieve WPIAL championship game goal
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...
A-K Valley WPIAL soccer playoff capsule: Game for Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022
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...
A-K Valley soccer playoff preview capsules for games of Oct. 31, 2022
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:...
