Michael Love stories, Page 81
Student-athletes learn to ‘respect the game’ at WPIAL Sportsmanship Summit
More than 400 student-athletes from schools throughout Western Pennsylvania gathered Wednesday morning to discuss their roles in creating a stronger leadership environment through sportsmanship both on and off the field. The 12th annual WPIAL Sportsmanship Summit at the Sen. John Heinz History Center in Downtown Pittsburgh gave students the opportunity...
Mars girls soccer headed back to Hershey after another win over Plum
The Mars girls soccer team is headed back to Hershey for a shot at its third straight PIAA championship. Sophomore Ainsley Ray headed home a corner kick from fellow sophomore Addi Girdwood with 10 minutes, 36 seconds left in the second half to lift the Planets past Plum, 1-0, in...
Knoch makes football coaching change
Brandon Mowry will not be back as Knoch’s football coach. The South Butler School District released a statement Tuesday announcing the move. “At this time, we have made the decision to move in a new direction with our football program,” the statement read.“We feel it is in the best interest...
Dotchin, Kerr hired as Highlands basketball coaches
Highlands has its basketball coaches. Corey Dotchin and Jason Kerr, junior varsity coaches and varsity assistants for the Golden Rams boys and girls teams, respectively, have been elevated to head coaching positions. They were hired at Monday’s school board meeting. “It is definitely a relief,” Highlands athletic director Drew Karpen...
Plum girls soccer gets another crack at nemesis Mars, this time in state semifinals
The Plum girls soccer team had to endure a pair of 170-mile round trips — two excursions to Hollidaysburg’s Tiger Stadium, near Altoona — for the first two rounds of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs. Those trips, long as they were, did yield winning results: a first-round 3-1 victory over...
PIAA girls soccer preview capsule: Plum vs. Mars, Tuesday, Nov. 16
Class 3A Semifinals 7-2 Plum (21-2-1) vs. 7-1 Mars (18-0-1) 6 p.m. Tuesday at Shaler Titans Stadium, Shaler Middle School, Glenshaw Winner plays: Winner of 1-1 Radnor/12-1 Archbishop Ryan in championship game at 4 p.m. Saturday in Hershey Tuesday’s contest is a rematch of a 2-1 Mars victory in the...
A-K Valley senior spotlight: Plum’s Marissa Liberto
Marissa Liberto Plum girls soccer Marissa Liberto can score a goal or two. She also loves setting up her teammates. The Plum senior forward/midfielder and newly minted All-WPIAL performer just wants to win soccer games. “Winning the game is all that matters,” said Liberto, who will help lead the 21-2-1...
Gateway’s Sundin caps high school cross country career at PIAA championships
Brady Sundin capped his high school cross country career on the state’s biggest stage. The Gateway senior joined the top runners in Hershey on Nov. 6 for the PIAA championships, and he placed 141st overall in the Class 3A boys race with a time of 17 minutes, 53.9 seconds. “He...
Gateway hockey team snaps early skid
The Gateway junior varsity ice hockey team continues to navigate through the fall portion of its 2021-22 season, and the Gators added a point to its place in the standings with a 2-2 tie against North Hills on Nov. 8. Gateway rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to the Indians...
Injuries allow young players to gain experience for Riverview
The Riverview football team took its lumps on the scoreboard throughout the 2021 season, but coach Trevor George said the mix of veterans and young talent never wavered in their attitude and dedication to pushing past any adversities they faced. “Whatever happened on game day, win or lose, they approached...
Heart, grit help carry Plum to WPIAL football playoffs
The Plum football team lost to Hampton by 28 points in the regular season. To some, that Greater Allegheny Conference result, 35-7 on Oct. 8 at Plum, might have been a foreshadowing of things to come when the WPIAL football playoff committee paired the Talbots and Mustangs for the Class...
Plum girls soccer team tops Mechanicsburg in PIAA quarters
The record-setting season for the Plum girls soccer team continues. The Mustangs trailed District 3 champion Mechanicsburg just two minutes into Saturday’s PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal at Hollidaysburg. But second-half tallies from junior Camryn Rogers and sophomore Ava Weleski lifted Plum into the state semifinals with a 2-1 win over...
Rochester football team pulls away for win over Springdale
Rochester and Springdale were knotted at seven at halftime of Friday’s WPIAL Class A quarterfinal at Freedom’s Jimbo Covert Field. But the Rams grabbed the lead early in the third and added a pair of scores in the fourth to finalize a 27-7 victory. “Springdale is a good football team....
Plum girls soccer not satisfied as they head into state quarterfinals
The Plum girls soccer team is in uncharted territory, but at the same time, it has set its course for a familiar destination. For the first time in program history, the Mustangs will play a PIAA quarterfinal game. Plum faces District 3 champion Mechanicsburg at 1 p.m. Saturday. “It is...
A-K Valley PIAA soccer quarterfinal capsule for Nov. 13, 2021
PIAA Girls Soccer Class 3A Quarterfinals Plum (20-2-1) vs. Mechanicsburg (18-3-2) 1 p.m. Saturday at Hollidaysburg High School, Hollidaysburg Winner plays: Winner of 7-1 Mars (17-0-1)/7-3 Montour (16-7) on Tuesday in semifinals (Site and time TBD) Notes: Plum punched its ticket to the quarterfinals with a 3-1 victory over District...
Annual Pennsylvania Karate Championships set to test the best Saturday
Saturday’s 48th annual Pennsylvania Karate Championships are going back to where it all began. The Quality Inn in New Kensington, formerly the Clarion Inn, will provide the setting for the event, and co-organizer Master Frank Caliguri from Caliguri’s Academy of Martial Arts in Lower Burrell said this year’s event will...
Springdale aims for revenge against No. 5 Rochester in WPIAL quarterfinals
Springdale and Rochester are no strangers to each other, even though the Dynamos and Rams have played only four times in their respective histories. All four matchups were playoff games, and the teams clashed just last year in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A tournament. Rochester topped Springdale, 34-17,...
A-K Valley football players to watch for 2021 Week 11
Legend Ausk Springdale, Sr., QB/LB The dual-threat capabilities of the veteran signal-caller have the Dynamos thinking big things in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals. In last Friday’s shutout victory over No. 4 West Greene, Ausk threw for 54 yards and a touchdown. He now has 12 passing scores and another...
Plum beats District 6 champ Hollidaysburg for program’s 1st PIAA playoff victory
HOLLIDAYSBURG — The Plum girls soccer team threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Hollidaysburg net, and Tigers freshman keeper Natalie Foster in the first half during a PIAA Class AAA first-round game Tuesday at Hollidaysburg. Plum delivered 14 shots, including seven on goal, over the first 40 minutes....
Plum girls soccer team gets shot at redemption in PIAA 1st round
Kaley Simqu was a starter at Cedar Crest High School two years ago for Plum’s PIAA Class 3A girls soccer first-round game against District 3 champion Manheim Central. Now a junior, the midfielder/defender and a number of other current Mustangs teammates experienced the heartbreak of a shootout loss to the...
A-K Valley PIAA girls soccer playoff capsules for Nov. 9, 2021
Class 3A First round 7-2 Plum (19-2-1) at 6-1 Hollidaysburg (13-8) 6 p.m. Tuesday at Hollidaysburg High School Winner plays: Winner of 3-1 Mechanicsburg/12-2 St. Hubert’s in quarterfinals Saturday (site and time TBD) Plum enters the state playoffs after a runner-up finish to Mars in Saturday’s WPIAL title game at...
Freeport, Plum finally cross paths in PIAA first-round volleyball match
The Plum and Freeport girls volleyball teams shared a gym four times this season but never played an official match against each other. The Mustangs and Yellowjackets did scrimmage in mid-August, but they missed each other at the Plum and Freeport tournaments. The teams also got a chance to see...
Persia leads Plum runners at WPIAL championship meet
Ashley Persia ran her final high school cross country race Oct. 28 at the WPIAL championships, and the Plum senior made her move throughout the race and finished 48th in Class 3A at Cal (Pa). While Persia didn’t reach her goal of a trip to states, Mustangs’ coach Stephanie Lednak...
Plum girls volleyball turns attention to PIAA playoffs
The Plum girls volleyball team had its sights set on the WPIAL Class 3A championship game as it faced Hampton in the semifinals Nov. 2 at Gateway. The Mustangs won a pair of close games, 26-24, to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the match. However, the Talbots rallied...
Gateway’s Madi Jesih commits to play soccer at Robert Morris
In less than two years, Gateway junior Madi Jesih will trade Gators black and gold for Robert Morris red, white and blue. The talented center defensive midfielder recently gave a verbal commitment to continue her athletic pursuits at the next level with the Division I Colonials women’s soccer team. “I...
