Michael Love stories, Page 66
A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for 2022 Week 1
Nonconference Blackhawk (0-1) at Highlands (1-0) 7 p.m. Friday, at Golden Rams Stadium, Natrona Heights Blackhawk got on the board late in Friday’s 22-7 loss to neighboring rival Beaver Falls as quarterback Alex Prichard connected with Sam Stewart for a 22-yard touchdown. … Highlands topped University Prep for the second...
A-K Valley football players to watch in 2022 Week 1
Luke Bombalski Highlands, jr., RB/LB Bombalski broke out last year as a bruising runner for the Golden Rams, and last Friday, he picked up where he left off with 23 carries for 130 yards and three touchdowns in Highlands’ 34-12 victory over University Prep. Bombalski also recorded five tackles, including...
Volleyball coaches association releases 2022 Week 1 WPIAL girls rankings
The Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its inaugural WPIAL top-10 poll for the 2022 girls volleyball season Monday morning, and North Allegheny (Class 4A), Thomas Jefferson (Class 3A), Freeport (Class 2A) and Bishop Canevin (Class A) are at the top of their specific rankings. The season kicked off this...
Kiski Area, Norwin volleyball teams ready to play outdoors again
The Kiski Area and Norwin girls volleyball teams kick off their seasons Monday evening, and for the second year in a row, the rivals will take their nonsection matchup outside. The Cavaliers and Knights expect a big crowd and good weather for the Pack the Park Volleyball Classic, an event...
Gateway girls soccer under new leadership
The Gateway girls soccer program experienced transition in the offseason as Kelly Bender stepped down as varsity head coach after six seasons to concentrate on family and professional work changes. Those at Gateway looking for the new coach ultimately didn’t have to go far to find the person they ended...
High-scoring Strawser leads Gateway boys soccer into 2022 campaign
Gateway boys soccer coach Bernie Stiles said championship victories at a pair of winter indoor tournaments — futsal events at Deer Lakes and Penn Hills — were sparks that fueled the team in its offseason preparation for the 2022 season. “Our second team, too, made it into the semifinals of...
Experienced Riverview boys soccer team hopes to continue turnaround
The Riverview boys soccer team went winless in 2021. There were several close matchups that went down to the wire, but the youthful Raiders squad, with no seniors and just four juniors, weren’t able to get over the hump. But while the team didn’t find success in terms of wins...
Plum boys soccer team motivated to reach WPIAL championship game
The Plum boys soccer team has had some heart-wrenching playoff results the past three seasons. In 2019, when this year’s seniors were freshman, the Mustangs, the No. 1 seed, suffered a close 3-2 loss to Canon-McMillan in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals. A year later, Plum was the No. 4...
AK Valley football notebook: Running game powers Burrell to opening win
Physical play on both sides of the ball is the calling card for Shawn Liotta-coached teams, and he said he was pleased with what he saw on film from Burrell’s 31-10 victory at Jeannette on Friday. Before the season, Liotta said the Bucs would rely a lot on a power...
Apollo-Ridge fends off rival Leechburg in opener
After a two-year hiatus, the Leechburg and Apollo-Ridge football teams renewed their neighboring rivalry Friday night for a Week Zero clash at Owens Field. The Vikings, who collected 530 yards of offense, earned bragging rights in the latest matchup against the Blue Devils. Apollo-Ridge held off a late Leechburg charge...
A-K Valley girls soccer preview: Plum driven to add to impressive resume
The WPIAL girls soccer championship games will be back at Highmark Stadium for the second year in a row, and Plum hopes to again reserve a spot in the Class 3A game in early November. Runners-up to Mars the past two seasons — 2020 at North Allegheny and last year...
A-K Valley football players to watch in 2022 Week Zero
Dom Dininno Kiski Area, sr., WR/DB The Cavaliers senior has emerged as a main target in the passing game and hopes to make his mark in Friday’s opener against Plum. Dininno also is one to watch on the defensive side of the ball. He earned Class 5A Northeast Conference second-team...
A-K Valley’s don’t miss high school football matchups for 2022 Week Zero
Nonconference Armstrong at Valley 7 p.m. Friday, at Valley High Memorial Stadium, New Kensington Armstrong is led by the arm and legs of senior Cadin Olsen, a Penn commit. Olsen threw for 28 touchdowns and added 16 rushing scores in 2021. The River Hawks hope to qualify for the WPIAL...
Springdale sophomore tight end poised for breakout season
Garrett Myers attended Redeemer Lutheran school in Penn Hills through eighth grade. The school doesn’t offer a football program. Basketball was Myers’ main sport. Football wasn’t in the picture for the 6-foot-1, 195-pound Springdale tight end and linebacker. “We moved into the area, and I saw a photo of the...
Highlands’ Jimmy Kunst commits to play baseball at Eastern Michigan
Jimmy Kunst took an unofficial visit to the campus of Eastern Michigan a couple of months ago, and several aspects of the trip, including a tour of the Eagles baseball facilities, drew him closer to making his recent verbal commitment. The Highlands senior and multi-sport standout announced his decision to...
Senior Kevin Tomlinson driven to restore Riverview pride
Riverview senior Kevin Tomlinson has grown 5 inches in height since his freshman football season. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound wide receiver/free safety also has grown significantly through all of the ups and downs experienced during his varsity career with the Raiders. Those experiences fuel the team co-captain, and he said that...
No time to waste as senior quarterback takes reins of Kiski Area offense
Playing three sports at Kiski Area, Lebryn Smith doesn’t have much down time. But he doesn’t mind. Competition is in his blood. “I’m definitely always on the go,” Smith said. “I don’t have that many days where I’m not doing anything. As soon as football ends, I start basketball training....
New coach brings wide-ranging changes to Springdale program
It was a busy senior night last fall for the Springdale football team. Seventeen team members were honored, and many of them were key two-way starters and contributors. As the page turned to a new season, first-year Dynamos coach Ryan Tempalski, who was hired in March, and his staff were...
Riverview rebuilding project could pay off this season
Riverview has struggled in and out of Eastern Conference play with just seven victories over the past five seasons. But third-year Raiders coach Trevor George is sounding the bell of optimism that this year’s group can turn things around and be a factor in conference play and also make a...
Experience buoys RMU goalie Zolnierczyk in return from injury
Mike Zolnierczyk’s leadership skills on and off the field were on display throughout his high school career at Springdale, where he was a three-time All-WPIAL performer and the Class A Player of the Year as a senior in 2018. Upon his arrival the next year at Division I Robert Morris...
WPIAL Class 4A football breakdown: Aliquippa ready for another heavyweight fight
In winter 2020, Aliquippa challenged the PIAA assertion, under the competitive-balance rule, that it should move up from Class 3A to Class 4A. Despite their best efforts, including the fact they were already voluntarily playing up in Class 3A, the Quips were bumped up one class and into a grouping...
Devil in the details: Pitt-bound Braylan Lovelace leading Leechburg to success on the field and off
Braylan Lovelace earned 13 Division I football offers throughout the college recruiting process, and three of them came from the Ivy League. Brown, Columbia and Penn recognized the 6-foot-2, 205-pound athlete’s ability on the field and in the classroom. Education is a high priority for the Leechburg senior, who carries...
Gateway trio to play in international ball hockey tournament
Monroeville will be well-represented at the International Street and Ball Hockey Federation Future Stars Tournament which starts Friday in Buffalo. Nico Mager, Austyn Malloy and C.J. Evans will play for Team Pennsylvania in two divisions against more than a dozen state teams from the northeast and east coast. “It’s such...
Burrell ready to take on new challenges in Class 2A
After several years in Class 3A, Burrell made the move down a classification in the new two-year cycle. Coach Shawn Liotta said his team is getting ramped up for the season and is excited for its potential in its new conference. “There are a lot of new challenges for us...
Veteran linebacking corps lights fuse for Freeport Area defense
The Freeport Area defense created havoc for opposing offenses throughout the 2021 season. Yellowjackets players combined for 47 sacks, one of the largest totals in all of the WPIAL. The two inside linebackers — Jacksen Reiser and Andrew Sullivan — and the pair of outside ’backers — Colton Otterman and...
