Michael Love stories, Page 39
Apollo-Ridge girls basketball ready to take next step after strong run
The Apollo-Ridge girls basketball team won 19 games last year, finished runner-up to Shady Side Academy in Section 3-3A and hosted the first home playoff game by a Vikings basketball program, boys or girls. There were a lot of things to be pleased about following the season, and the returning...
Riverview girls hope to continue historic march through PIAA soccer playoffs
Last fall, Juliette Brun was watching Riverview girls soccer games, including the WPIAL Class A first-round matchup with Chartiers-Houston, from the stands, knowing that she along with others in her then-eighth grade class soon would get their chance to contribute. Brun, a defender on a Raiders unit that has allowed...
Gateway welcomes newest class of Sports Hall of Fame honorees
Four years separated the opportunities for the Gateway athletics family to honor its own. More than 150 people gathered together Nov. 4 at Edgewood Country Club to again celebrate memorable sports accomplishments with the enshrinement of the Gateway Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023. Celebrated this year were Shayla...
Gateway’s Kefimba Cisse caps high school career at PIAA championship meet
Two years ago as a sophomore, Gateway’s Kefimba Cisse placed 67th in the Class 3A boys race at the WPIAL cross country championships at Cal (Pa.). He wasn’t able to reach the state meet in Hershey, but Gators coach Tom LaBuff said the then first-year high school runner was making...
Riverview cross country caps season with 2nd-place finish at PIAA meet
An award-winning season for the Riverview boys cross country team ended with silver medals and a runner-up trophy at the PIAA Class A championships Nov. 4 on Hershey’s Parkview course. It was the second podium finish for the Raiders in five years. The 2019 squad, led by Mason Ochs, Gideon...
Young Plum skaters getting up to speed in early going
Plum’s ice hockey season started well enough with a pair of victories and a combined 14 goals. With both games at home at Pittsburgh Ice Arena in New Kensington, the Mustangs skated past Hampton, 8-2, and then beat Wheeling Park, 6-4. The youthful Plum skaters — there are just four...
Central Catholic motors past Mt. Lebanon back into WPIAL championship game
Central Catholic is back in position to go after another WPIAL football championship. The Vikings, the No. 1 seed in Class 6A, held a two-touchdown lead at halftime of Friday’s semifinal matchup with No. 4 Mt. Lebanon at Fox Chapel. They added on over the final 24 minutes, fronted by...
Neighborhood rivals Riverview, Springdale to battle for 3rd time in PIAA quarterfinals
The Springdale and Riverview girls soccer teams both had to make long trips to earn victories Tuesday in the first round of the PIAA Class A playoffs. The WPIAL runner-up Raiders traveled 84 miles east toward Johnstown and came away with a 5-3 victory in a back-and-forth game against District...
Pennsylvania Karate Championships celebrate 50 years
The Pennsylvania Karate Championships are golden in 2023. They also have expanded to two days. The 50th championships, a keystone event in the region since the early 1970s, will be Friday and Saturday in the grand ballroom of the Quality Inn in New Kensington. It is where the event began...
After historic playoff win, Deer Lakes turns attention to defending PIAA champion Belle Vernon
Deer Lakes made history and made a statement Friday with its 30-point home victory over Southmoreland in a WPIAL Class 3A first-round football game. It was the No. 8 Lancers’ first playoff victory in only their second postseason game at home. Now, Deer Lakes hopes to make a bigger statement...
Student-athletes learn importance of respect at 14th annual WPIAL Sportsmanship Summit
More than 400 student-athletes from schools throughout Western Pennsylvania gathered Wednesday morning to discuss and learn about what they can do to create a stronger leadership environment through sportsmanship on and off the field of competition. The 14th annual WPIAL Sportsmanship Summit at the Sen. John Heinz History Center in...
Riverview girls advance to PIAA Class A quarterfinals, rematch with Springdale
DAVIDSVILLE — Lola Abraham was struck in the face by a kicked ball four minutes into the second half of a PIAA Class A first-round game Tuesday at District 5 champion Conemaugh Township. It took several minutes for her to clear the cobwebs. “It caught her off guard,” Raiders coach...
Riverview, Springdale girls soccer teams hit reset button for PIAAs; rematch could await
The Riverview and Springdale girls soccer teams could meet for a third time this season Saturday afternoon, provided they take care of business against district-champion opponents in their PIAA Class A first-round matches Tuesday. Raiders coach Sean Abraham and Dynamos coach Marc Bentley said their teams are not looking ahead...
After coming up short for WPIAL title, resilient Freeport heads to state volleyball tournament
The Freeport girls volleyball team is no stranger to taking on the best in the state at this point in a fall season. While the Yellowjackets players had hoped to enter this year’s PIAA Class 2A playoffs with another WPIAL title under their belts, head coach Tom Phillips said they...
Gateway youth football league celebrates 11-12 championship
Only two programs in the Big East Youth Football League had all four of its teams — flag, ages 7-8, ages 9-10 and ages 11-12 — qualify for the season-ending league playoffs. One was Penn-Trafford, and the other was the Gateway teams: the Midgets (11-12), Mites (9-10), Termites (7-8) and...
After 4th straight playoff appearance, Gateway boys soccer says goodbye to senior class
A fourth straight trip to the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs was in the preseason plans for the Gateway boys soccer team. A streak-breaking victory in their first-round matchup at No. 5 Montour also was what the Gators wanted. They got the former but were denied the latter, as the Spartans...
Plum girls soccer team reflects on accomplishments after strong season
The Plum girls soccer team sought a return trip to the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals for the fifth year in a row when it faced Montour in a quarterfinal rematch of a regular-season tie game. It was the only blemish in 17 games for the No. 2 Mustangs through a...
After quarterfinal loss, Plum boys soccer looks ahead toward productive offseason
The Plum and South Fayette boys soccer programs were no strangers to each other before meeting Oct. 25 in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal at Plum High School. In the 2020 first round, the No. 13 Lions rose up and stunned the No. 4 Mustangs, 2-1, in overtime. Last year,...
Deer Lakes routs Southmoreland for 1st playoff victory in school history
Something had to give Friday when Southmoreland and Deer Lakes met in a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game at Lancers Stadium. Neither team had won a playoff game in its history. The Lancers came in with an 0-3 mark, and the Scotties had lost their first four postseason opportunities. Deer...
Riverview girls soccer team has chance to make history
Georgia Tsambis had a feeling. The senior captain and defender on the No. 1 Riverview girls soccer team said the pieces were in place to make some noise and affect the WPIAL landscape in Class A. “We knew we had some talented freshmen coming up, and the potential was there...
Riverview runners return to Hershey with team trophies in their sights
The Riverview boys and girls cross country teams both ran at the PIAA Class A championships last year. They hoped to do it again this year. Mission accomplished. The Raiders boys squad, led by an 11th-place finish from junior Chris Barnes, won its second WPIAL title in three seasons last...
A-K Valley football players to watch in 2023 Week 10
Player of the week Ethan Alwine Knoch, Sr., RB/LB The Knights finished the regular season and Allegheny 6 Conference slate with a dominant 40-0 victory over Valley last Friday. Alwine, who has shown his prowess all season as a dual threat in both the Knoch run and pass games, put...
Deer Lakes, Southmoreland each chasing 1st WPIAL playoff victory
When Deer Lakes and Southmoreland met for a nonconference game in Week 4 at Southmoreland, the Lancers came away with a 24-7 victory, scoring 17 second-half points to break open a game that was tied at halftime. The teams will do battle again Friday, this time in a WPIAL Class...
Defending champ Freedom rallies past Springdale in Class A semifinals
Senior Shaye Bailey scored her 46th goal of the season with 10 minutes, 20 seconds left, and the score was the difference as No. 2 Freedom rallied past No. 6 Springdale, 3-2, in a WPIAL Class A semifinal Tuesday evening at North Allegheny. Freedom will attempt to defend its WPIAL...
Lola Abraham’s 5 goals against South Allegheny propel Riverview to 1st WPIAL title match
Lola Abraham had five shots in the first half of a WPIAL Class A semifinal against South Allegheny on Tuesday at North Allegheny. The attempts by the Riverview senior were solid, but the Gladiators defense was marking her closely and keeping her from getting the Raiders on the board. South...
