Michael Love stories, Page 82
Behind young roster, Gateway boys soccer looks forward to promising future
It wasn’t the way the Gateway boys soccer team wanted to close out its 2021 season. The Gators finished third in Section 4-3A and were the No. 11 seed for the WPIAL playoffs. Gateway played even with No. 6 Kiski Area for the first half of their first-round matchup Oct....
Second-half surge lifts Freeport over Ambridge, into WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals
It took Freeport a quarter to get its offense going Friday night in a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game against Ambridge at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. The No. 5 Yellowjackets broke out for a pair of second-quarter touchdowns – one rush and one pass – to take the lead at...
Freeport, Hampton meet for third time, this time with WPIAL title on the line
The first two matchups between the Freeport and Hampton girls volleyball teams were five-game slugfests that decided the Section 5 championship. The Talbots won the first match at home, but the Yellowjackets returned the favor at Freeport Middle School a couple of weeks later. The teams ended up sharing the...
A-K Valley football players to watch in 2021 Week 10
Logan Brooks Plum, Sr., WR/DB Brooks has been key part of the Mustangs passing game all season, but he picked up his pace the past several weeks with a combined 23 catches for 263 yards and three touchdowns against Knoch, Armstrong and Greensburg Salem. He hauled in 11 passes for...
A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for 2021 Week 10
Class 5A First round 10-Fox Chapel (4-6) at 7-Upper St. Clair (6-4) 7 p.m. Friday, at Panther Stadium, Upper St. Clair Township Winner plays: At 2-Penn-Trafford in quarterfinals Nov. 12, 7 p.m. Fox Chapel returns to the WPIAL playoffs after a one-year hiatus. The Foxes are part of the postseason...
Freeport fends off Armstrong in Class 3A volleyball thriller
The Freeport girls volleyball team is back in the WPIAL championship game. The top-seeded Yellowjackets lost the first game of their WPIAL Class 3A semifinal match with section rival and fifth-seeded Armstrong on Tuesday. But Freeport won three of the remaining four games, including the deciding Game 5 by a...
Hampton girls volleyball uses big rally to defeat Plum
In a Section 5 match with Armstrong late in the regular season, the Hampton girls volleyball team found itself down 2-0. The Talbots were able to mount a rally that night and pull out a win. It helped them finish in a tie for the section title. Hampton was in...
Alle-Kiski Valley WPIAL soccer playoff capsules for Nov. 3, 2021
Boys Class 3A Consolation game Plum (17-3-1) vs. Franklin Regional (15-4) 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Pete Antimarino Stadium, Gateway, Monroeville The winner of this third-place game between Section 4 foes will advance to the PIAA playoffs, which begin next Tuesday around the state. Fourth-seeded Plum took top-seeded and undefeated West...
Kelsey Salopek’s 50th goal sends Steel Valley past Springdale into 1st WPIAL finals
The Steel Valley girls soccer team is headed to Highmark Stadium. The No. 3 seed earned a spot in Friday’s WPIAL Class A championship game with a 1-0 victory over Springdale on Monday at Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium. “This is an unbelievable feeling,” Steel Valley coach Bill Abraham said. “This is...
Alle-Kiski Valley WPIAL soccer playoff capsules for Nov. 2, 2021
Tuesday’s WPIAL soccer playoff games Boys Class 4A Semifinal 5-Fox Chapel (15-3-1) vs. 1-Seneca Valley (16-0-1) 8 p.m. at Newman Stadium, North Allegheny High School, Wexford Winner plays: Winner of 2-Peters Township (15-1-1)/6-North Allegheny (15-5) 5:45 p.m. Saturday at Highmark Stadium. Notes: The Foxes played the Raiders to a 2-2...
Valley’s Muzzy Colosimo gets emotional as he retires from coaching
The past couple of days have been pretty emotional for Muzzy Colosimo since he announced his retirement from coaching football and was on the sidelines guiding his Valley football team one last time Friday evening. His son, Willie, who coached with him at Valley and Greensburg Central Catholic and with...
A-K Valley senior spotlight: Riverview’s Parker Steele
Parker Steele Riverview cross country Parker Steele will run his final high school cross country race Nov. 6 in Hershey as he and his Riverview teammates, the newly crowned WPIAL Class A team champions, go after the best in the state at the PIAA championships. While he acknowledged the soon-to-be...
Fox Chapel girls soccer riding momentum as they prep for WPIAL semis vs. Seneca Valley
Molly McNaughton ranged to her left, got a hand on the ball and pushed it away from the goal. It was the sixth round of a penalty-kick shootout that decided the winner of last Thursday’s WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal between No. 9 Fox Chapel and top seed and two-time defending...
Resilient Springdale girls soccer team eager for WPIAL Class A semifinal vs. Steel Valley
Grace Gent led Springdale in scoring during the regular season with 23 goals. The Springdale junior forward added her 24th as part of a strong effort by the No. 2 Dynamos in a 3-2 Class A quarterfinal victory over No. 7 Seton LaSalle last Wednesday at Steel Valley’s Campbell Field....
Gateway girls soccer team reflects on trip to postseason
The Gateway girls soccer team hoped for a longer stay in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs, but coach Kelly Bender said she was happy with her team’s effort in the 3-0 first-round loss to South Fayette on Oct. 25. “It was a tough loss, but my girls gave it their...
Strong finish carries Plum to slow-pitch softball finals
The Plum slow-pitch softball team entered the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League single-elimination playoffs Oct. 23 hoping to make a run to the title game. As the No. 6 seed, the Mustangs did just that. Plum upended No. 11 Penn-Trafford, 21-12, in the first round, scored an 11-5 win over...
Burrell wins, gets help, qualifies for playoffs for first time since 2012
Burrell entered Friday’s Allegheny Seven Conference finale with Valley at Buccaneer Stadium needing a win and a Deer Lakes loss to make the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs. The Bucs got the win they needed, 19-14 over the Vikings. They also got the Lancers loss necessary. Deer Lakes fell to Freeport,...
Knoch girls cross country team ‘ready to run’ at WPIAL championship meet
The WPIAL cross country championships return to Cal (Pa.) on Thursday after a one-year covid hiatus, and the Knoch girls team hopes to be a major factor in the team and individual standings. Five of six runners from last year’s Class AA fifth-place team are back, and coach Wess Brahler...
A-K Valley WPIAL soccer playoff capsules for Oct. 28, 2021
Today’s games Girls Quarterfinals Class 4A 9-Fox Chapel (9-7-1) at 1-North Allegheny (16-0-1) 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Newman Stadium, McCandless Winner plays: Winner of 4-Seneca Valley (14-3-2)/5-Norwin (13-4) on Monday in semifinals (site and time TBD) Notes: Fox Chapel, the third-place team from Section 3 behind Latrobe and Norwin, secured a...
A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for 2021 Week 9
Class 5A Northeast Conference Penn Hills (5-3, 3-1) at Kiski Area (6-3, 1-3) 7 p.m. Friday, at Richards Dilts Stadium, Allegheny Township Penn Hills can clinch a share of the conference championship with a win Friday. The Indians put themselves in position last Friday with a 40-3 victory over Shaler....
A-K Valley football players to watch for 2021 Week 9
Devin Beattie Burrell, So., RB/DB Beattie is one the many young players who have helped keep the Bucs alive for a WPIAL playoff spot heading into the final week of the regular season. Last week against Derry, he ran nine times for 82 yards and scored two touchdowns in a...
Freeport girls volleyball in good position for playoffs
The Freeport girls volleyball team feels right at home in the WPIAL playoffs. The Yellowjackets haven’t missed the postseason in close to two decades, and they find themselves the hunted as the No. 1 seed in Class AAA as they shoot for their second WPIAL championship in three years, their...
Penn State New Kensington men’s soccer optimistic entering postseason
After a regular season full of positive outcomes for the Penn State New Kensington men’s soccer team, the Lions turn their attention to a quest for gold this week at the Penn State University Athletic Conference tournament. PSNK (11-4 overall) finished conference play 8-2 and will be the No. 3...
Volleyball coaches association releases final WPIAL girls rankings, players of the week
The WPIAL playoff brackets are set and the postseason matches begin this week. The Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its final girls rankings and players of the week Monday. North Allegheny (Class 4A), Freeport (Class 3A), North Catholic (Class 2A) and Bishop Canevin (Class A) own the top spots...
East Allegheny boys soccer team dethrones defending 2A champ Deer Lakes
There will be a new WPIAL champion in boys Class 2A. East Allegheny sophomore midfielder Ryan Nichol scored off a rebound 24 seconds into overtime to lift No. 10 East Allegheny past defending champion Deer Lakes, 2-1, in a first-round game Monday at Lancers Stadium. “That felt amazing,” Nichol said...
