Michael Love stories, Page 61
Gateway volleyball says goodbye to senior class after playoff loss
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...
Gateway boys soccer season comes to close in WPIAL 1st round
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...
Plum’s girls volleyball season concludes in WPIAL playoffs
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...
Late-season victory helps Plum bounce back from 4-game slide
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...
Challenging opening-round foes await A-K Valley football teams in WPIAL playoffs
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 soundly defeats Burrell in conference finale
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,...
Big East Youth Football League reaches playoff semifinals
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...
Shaler tops North Allegheny to win slow-pitch softball league title
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...
We Serve First Foundation to host inaugural girls volleyball all-star event
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’s Jolena Quarzo joins elite company as 3-time WPIAL cross country champ
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...
Riverview boys, girls earn top 3 finishes, PIAA berths at WPIAL cross country meet
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...
Riverview boys try to defend their WPIAL Class A cross country title
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...
A-K Valley football players to watch in 2022 Week 9
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...
A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for 2022 Week 9
Class 5A Northeast Fox Chapel (0-9, 0-4) at Shaler (4-5, 1-3) 7 p.m. Friday, Louis C. Martig Field at Titans Stadium, Glenshaw Fox Chapel is hoping to avoid a winless season for the first time since 1968. The Foxes suffered a 50-13 loss to Kiski Area last Friday as the...
A-K Valley soccer playoff preview capsules for games of Oct. 27, 2022
Thursday’s games Boys Class 2A Quarterfinals 12-West Mifflin (12-6-1) at 4-Deer Lakes (17-2) 6:30 p.m., Lancers Stadium, West Deer Winner plays: Winner of 1-South Park (18-0)/8-McGuffey (13-5-1) in semifinals Monday (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Fynn McCracken, GK, West Mifflin; Nate Litrun, D, Deer Lakes Corner kicks: Senior forward...
Dave Anderson happy with decision to pull double coaching duty at Kiski Area
Dave Anderson will be front and center Wednesday evening as a varsity assistant for the Kiski Area boys soccer team as it hosts Montour at 6:30 in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal at Richard Dilts Stadium. On Monday, he was in command as the head coach of the Cavaliers girls...
A-K Valley soccer playoff preview capsules for games of Oct. 26, 2022
Wednesday’s games Boys Class 3A Quarterfinals 13-Montour (11-4-4) at 5-Kiski Area (16-3) 8 p.m., Richard Dilts Stadium, Allegheny Township Winner plays: Winner of 1-Moon (17-0-1)/8-Bethel Park (14-5) in semifinals Monday (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Andrew Prunier, MF, Montour; Maddox Anderson, GK, Kiski Area Corner kicks: Montour opened the...
Plum girls soccer team cruises past Kiski Area in first-round playoff game
The Plum girls soccer team left no doubt in its WPIAL Class 3A first-round playoff game with Kiski Area on Monday at Mustangs Stadium. The No. 3 Mustangs led 4-0 at halftime and added five more goals in the second half to post an 9-0 victory over the 14th-seeded Cavaliers....
Freeport duo will compete in girls soccer playoff game, WPIAL cross country this week
Freeport senior Nora Mahan and sophomore Addy Kristofik have a busy week ahead of them. The starters for the Yellowjackets girls soccer team (13-2) hope to help lead the No. 7 seed to victory over Southmoreland in a WPIAL Class 2A first-round matchup Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Freeport Area...
A-K Valley soccer playoff preview capsules for games of Oct. 25, 2022
Tuesday’s games Boys Class A First round 10-Serra Catholic (9-6) at 7-Burrell (14-3) 8 p.m., Buccaneers Stadium, Lower Burrell Winner plays: Winner of 2-Winchester Thurston (12-2-1)/15-California (5-11) in quarterfinals Saturday (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Ethan Coddington, GK, Serra Catholic; Seth Trisoline, MF, Burrell Corner kicks: Serra Catholic finished...
A-K Valley soccer playoff preview capsules for games of Oct. 24, 2022
Monday’s games Boys Class 2A First round 13-Hopewell (8-7) at 4-Deer Lakes (16-2) 6:30 p.m. Monday, at Lancers Stadium, West Deer Township Winner plays: Winner of 5-Belle Vernon (13-4)/12-West Mifflin (11-6-1) Players to Watch: Ryan Hanes, F, Deer Lakes Corner kicks: It was a tale of two playoff appearances for...
Gateway grad Brady Walker, Saint Vincent look to finish season strong
Against Geneva College on Oct. 10, Brady Walker threw for 221 yards and three touchdowns to help Saint Vincent post a 41-25 Presidents’ Athletic Conference victory. Both were season highs for the Gateway graduate and Bearcats senior. The effort marked the fifth time in Walker’s collegiate career that he threw...
Plum hockey rebounds from tough start, looks ahead to promising season
Plum ice hockey coach Phil Mains knew his team was better than what it showed in an 11-0 season-opening loss to defending PIHL Class A champion Norwin on Oct. 10. Given an opportunity at redemption, the Mustangs took full advantage a week later and got into the win column with...
Plum’s Wes Lorish relishes experience at PIAA golf championships
Plum sophomore Wes Lorish missed out on a trip to states last year, so coming into this season, one of his main missions was to get to Penn State and face the best in the state. It was mission accomplished as he took part in the 36-hole PIAA Class 3A...
Solid finish sends Gateway girls soccer team’s seniors out on high note
Gateway girls soccer coach Caleb Kyper wanted to see fight and determination from his team in the Section 3-3A and season finale at Latrobe on Oct. 18. That is what his players gave him, he said, as they battled the playoff-bound and section-runner up Wildcats before falling 2-0 to finish...
