Ted Sarneso stories, Page 4

What a turnaround it was for the Kiski School football program. After going 1-8 last year, the Cougars opened 2024 with losses in their first two games, won two in a row before losing to the Potomac School on Sept. 27 to sit at 2-3. The Cougars rallied to close...

Meet the new boss, same first name as the old boss. After 19 seasons at the helm of the Mt. Pleasant girls basketball team, Scott Giacobbi retired in June after compiling a 246-192 record and 13 WPIAL playoff appearances. Scott Hillen now takes over after spending the last 10 years...

Mt. Pleasant boys basketball coach Annie Malkowiak always tries to find the positive in everything. Despite what looked to be a bad year, with the Vikings finishing 8-13 overall, she saw plenty of growth within the team. “It was about those kids getting used to something completely different from what...

Deer Lakes senior Waylon Schiller came into the 2024 season in a competition for an outside back position. “I came ready to go, came to every practice in the prep week before the season,” Schiller said. “Even though I was battling younger players, the competition was still tough. The coaching...

It’s been a learning process for Chartiers Valley girls basketball coach Mike Semplice and his team since he was hired in 2022. In his first year, the team struggled with adjustments, specifically when those adjustments were drawn up on the fly during timeouts. But last year, and into the team’s...

New Chartiers Valley basketball coach Corey Dotchin was looking for a coaching job closer to home last winter after he and his wife had their first baby. “The round trip was a lot,” said Dotchin. “I was getting up and leaving for work at 6 in the morning, going to...

Baileigh Haas School: Springdale Class: Senior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Haas survived a 3-2 shootout win over Conemaugh Township in the first round of the PIAA playoffs Nov. 5. She allowed one goal in a 2-1 win against Bishop Guilfoyle in the quarterfinals Nov. 9. Haas made 10 saves...

Fresh off the victory, it still hadn’t set in for Seton LaSalle coach Tim Storino. “I haven’t had time to process it yet,” he said as his players celebrated with friends and family. “It’s a beautiful thing,” Storino added. “We’re excited. The whole school is excited. It’s been a great...

It was mission accomplished last season for the Cheswick Christian Academy boys basketball team. After losing in the Southwest Christian Conference title game at the end of the 2022-23 season, last year’s seniors made it their sole objective to get back and win. “It was a great experience for everyone...

The Cheswick Christian Academy girls basketball team knows what it’s about, and that’s functioning as a five-person unit instead of relying on a few stars to get victories. With a small roster, like this season’s that is dominated by sophomores, freshman and grade-schoolers, embracing that team mentality can go a...

When Maddie Joyce set foot on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson, she knew it was the right school for her. “People say that when you know, you know,” said Joyce. “Coach David Nguyen is a great guy, a great coach and prioritizes the girls having plenty of bonding opportunities, and...

Maddie Grimsley School: Fox Chapel Class: Senior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Grimsley had a goal and an assist in Fox Chapel’s PIAA first-round 5-1 win over Hollidaysburg on Tuesday night. She was tough to defend on one-on-ones and had a hand in each of the Foxes’ five goals, whether...

Battles are won and lost in the trenches. On Friday night, Freeport lost those battles. The offensive and defensive lines for the No. 7-seeded Yellowjackets (8-4) got zero push against No. 2-seed Central Valley (6-5) in a 35-7 defeat in the WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals. “They were just bigger and...

When asked what his team needs to do to have success against top-seeded Pine-Richland on Friday night in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs, Franklin Regional coach Luke Getsy was clear and direct. “We have to be able to control the ball to keep their offense off the...

For Plum hockey coach Jon Gratton, it is nice to have a calming influence for a team that has struggled out of the gate the past couple of seasons. Last year, the Mustangs started 2-4 before rallying to make the Penguins Cup playoffs, and this year, they have gotten off...

The WPIAL Class 3A field hockey title game was a tale of two halves for both No. 2 seed Mt. Lebanon and top seed Pine-Richland on Saturday. In the first half, chances were even between the squads as both goalkeepers did outstanding jobs to thwart any second or third opportunities...

When field hockey season started for Shady Side Academy coach Elizabeth Patterson, she knew she would have five returning players from the team’s 2023 championship winning squad. How the rest of the roster would fill out remained a mystery. “Last year we had lower numbers, one or two subs, so...

Peters Township’s defense learned its lesson from the last time the Indians played Fox Chapel. On Oct. 7, the Foxes squeaked out a 1-0 win off a breakaway goal. “They had one or two breakaways, and they executed them well,” Indians senior forward Serafina Forlini said. Peters Township was determined...

Carissa Walsh School: Springdale Class: Senior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Walsh had two goals within six minutes to propel Springdale past Winchester Thurston in the WPIAL Class A title match Thursday. The win gave Springdale its first WPIAL championship since 2009, when the school won the Class 2A title...

Peters Township sophomore defender Cailin Martin didn’t score a goal in the regular season, but she delivered two huge goals for the Indians in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. On Monday, Martin scored the golden goal against North Allegheny in the semifinals to send top-seeded Peters Township to the Class...

How fitting that on Halloween night, it was the team clad in orange and black that earned the victory and its first WPIAL championship in 15 years? Top-seeded Springdale scored three goals in six minutes to break a second-half tie and defeat No. 6 Winchester Thurston, 5-3, in the WPIAL...

Coming into this year’s playoffs, there were only four girls soccer teams across the WPIAL who had more than 90 goals for and fewer than 20 against: South Fayette in Class 3A, South Park and Mt. Pleasant in Class 2A and Springdale in Class A. Out of those four, only...

On the surface, the WPIAL Class 2A semifinal between top-seeded Quaker Valley and No. 5 Southmoreland appeared to be a battle throughout. However, neither coach was happy with how their team played. “We just need more energy on the court,” said Southmoreland coach Michelle Pergar. “I think that’s something we...

Franklin Regional boys soccer coach Nick White admitted his team came out in its WPIAL Class 3A semifinal matchup with Mars with a little bit of nerves. Three minutes in, his team would settle in after an absolute beauty of a diving save by senior goalkeeper Noah Walker. “Noah is...

Brooke Taliani’s high school soccer career did not get off to the best of starts. As a freshman, she missed most of the season after having knee surgery. Then, after she recovered, she twisted both of her ankles. In her sophomore year, Taliani struggled to come back from those injuries,...