High School category, Page 189
4th-quarter touchdown pass lifts Franklin Regional past North Hills
Franklin Regional’s late-game heroics on a Chase Lemke pop pass on a fake quarterback keeper pushed the Panthers to a 17-16 victory over North Hills in the WPIAL Class 5A first round Friday night at Martorelli Stadium. It was Franklin Regional’s first playoff win since 2018. Franklin Regional was on...
Penn-Trafford runs over South Fayette in football playoffs
Back-to-back losses to open the WPIAL football playoffs the last two seasons did not sit well with Tasso Whipple and his Penn-Trafford teammates. “We really wanted to end that streak,” Whipple said. “It’s something we wanted to forget about.” Whipple won’t soon forget the win that turned it around. The...
Samir Crosby, GCC outlast Monessen in wild Class A playoff opener
It was quite a show by two of the top juniors in Westmoreland County on Friday during the opening round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs. They were as advertised. Greensburg Central Catholic quarterback Samir Crosby threw four touchdown passes, rushed for a touchdown and returned a 70-yard kickoff return...
Fox Chapel finds winning goal in 70th minute to get past Plum, win 1st WPIAL title since ’95
It has been close to three decades since the last time the Fox Chapel boys soccer program could call itself the WPIAL champion. From the opening minute of the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Friday night at Highmark Stadium, the Foxes put pressure on Plum’s defense but couldn’t find the...
Avonworth uses ground game to pull away from stubborn Greensburg Salem in 2nd half
Fifth-seeded Avonworth opened Friday night’s WPIAL Class 3A first-round matchup with a flurry, going up three scores, but still had to hold off pesky, 12th-seeded Greensburg Salem before coming out on top 43-27 thanks to a dominant running attack. It was all Antelopes in the first 12 minutes, 47 seconds....
Cornell makes big plays in second half to pull away from Leechburg
Many playoff matchups featuring the eighth and ninth seeds are close and exciting. Friday night’s WPIAL Class A first-round contest at Leechburg between No. 9 Cornell and the eighth-seeded Blue Devils was certainly that. Cornell used two late scores to break a 20-20 tie and defeat Leechburg, 34-20, at Memorial...
Drew Ross accounts for 5 TDs as Freeport returns to playoffs by beating Mt. Pleasant
Freeport made an impactful return to the WPIAL playoffs Friday. After a one-year postseason hiatus, the Yellowjackets returned to the WPIAL quarterfinals by rolling past Mt. Pleasant, 44-20, in a Class 3A first-round matchup at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. “I am really proud of the kids, especially from where we...
North Catholic holds on to beat Deer Lakes in 1st round
Listed at 5-foot-4, Will Waskiewicz is the smallest player on North Catholic’s roster, but he made the biggest play of the night. With less than 15 seconds remaining, Waskiewicz leaped high in the air to intercept a pass in the end zone and preserve a 21-14 upset victory for No....
Peters Township prevails in penalty kicks to beat Seneca Valley for WPIAL Class 4A crown
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...
Highlands dominates short-handed Southmoreland in 1st round
A football playoff victory and an eight-win season have eluded Southmoreland for years. Against Highlands in Friday’s WPIAL Class 3A first-round playoff game, the Scotties were impacted by a variety of maladies. Southmoreland had eight players inactive for illness, injury or ineligibility. Quarterback Anthony Smith was cleared from concussion protocol,...
WPIAL singles champ, 2 doubles teams move into state tennis semifinals
The WPIAL Class 2A singles champion and two pairs of district doubles champs are two wins away from a state title. Gabriella Dusi of Belle Vernon and the teams of Jackie Tang and Michelle Yang of Mt. Lebanon and Kirsten Close and Avery Allan of Quaker Valley won two matches...
Top-seeded Moon expects to get all it can handle from underdog Franklin Regional in 3A boys soccer final
Franklin Regional might be the bottom dog in this matchup, but it is far from moonstruck. The Panthers are beaming with confidence, yes. But they also are trying not to peek at Moon’s undefeated record, its bevvy of talent or its goals-against average. Top-seeded Moon is 21-0 and will look...
Fox Chapel, South Fayette both vying to defend WPIAL girls soccer titles
When the Fox Chapel and South Fayette girls soccer teams meet for the WPIAL Class 3A championship Saturday afternoon at Highmark Stadium, a back-to-back champion is guaranteed to be crowned. The Foxes (18-2-1) made a magical run last year as the No. 6 seed in the Class 4A bracket and...
No. 9 Burrell looks to cap run of upsets with 1st WPIAL girls soccer title
The Burrell girls soccer team made history Tuesday with its dramatic, down-to-the-wire WPIAL Class 2A semifinal victory over South Park at North Allegheny. The 3-2 win put the ninth-seeded Bucs in the WPIAL title game for the first time in program history. Burrell (14-5-1) has the chance to add on...
WPSCA announces all-state boys soccer selections
Thirteen players from the WPIAL were named to the Western Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association All-State list. The selections include: • Roman Agostoni, Sr., MF, Latrobe • Danny Battista, South Park • Milo Chiu, Sr., MF, Fox Chapel • Aedan Costa, Sr., MF, Moon • Nathan Katari, Sr., MF, North Allegheny...
WPIAL girls volleyball championship preview: North Allegheny, Beaver look to defend titles
Four champions will be crowned Saturday at the 2024 WPIAL girls volleyball championships at Peters Township’s AHN Arena. Below is a look at the teams competing. Check out a feature on the Class A matchup between Frazier and Greensburg Central Catholic here. Class 4A 1-North Allegheny (16-1) vs. 3-North Catholic...
2024 WPIAL Class 2A boys soccer championship breakdown: South Park vs. Avonworth
WPIAL Class 2A boys soccer championship 1-South Park (19-1-1) vs. 2-Avonworth (17-2-2) 1:15 p.m. Saturday, Highmark Stadium Tickets: $10 general admission Coaches: Jon Cantwell, South Park; Tom Angell, Avonworth Players to watch: Danny Battista, South Park; Rowan Carmichael, Avonworth WPIAL titles: South Park 4 (2005, ‘06, ‘14, ‘23); Avonworth 1...
5 things to watch in WPIAL opening round: Wild card decisions under scrutiny
Did the WPIAL football committee get the wild cards right? Opinions surely vary, but teams that narrowly missed the playoffs are surely left with some questions. Rather than use tiebreaking formulas, the WPIAL broke with tradition this year and let its 10-person committee choose qualifiers. That leaves their picks open...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Oct. 31, 2024
High schools Field hockey WPIAL playoffs At Washington & Jefferson Saturday’s schedule Championship Class 3A Pine-Richland (19-0) vs. Mt. Lebanon (12-4), 4 p.m. Class 2A Fox Chapel (10-6-1) vs. Peters Township (15-3), noon Class A Shady Side Academy (14-4) vs. Aquinas Academy (8-3-3), 2 p.m. Football WPIAL playoffs Class 6A...
Bentworth switches goalkeepers for shootout, gets past OLSH to repeat as WPIAL champs
After 110 minutes of soccer couldn’t decide a winner in Thursday night’s WPIAL Class A boys soccer championship between No. 1 Bentworth and No. 3 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Bentworth coach Nick Malarbi elected to make an interesting decision heading into penalty kicks. Andrew Vipperman had played in...
High school roundup for Oct. 31, 2024: North Catholic girls earn state playoff berth
Simone Sharpless had a hat trick and added an assist to lead sixth-seeded North Catholic to a 5-1 victory over No. 4 South Park (15-6-1) in the WPIAL Class 2A girls soccer third-place match Thursday night. Kathleen Virostek had a goal and an assist and Sara Zagrocki also scored for...
Springdale surges past Winchester Thurston to win 1st WPIAL soccer title in 15 years
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...
Frazier, Greensburg Central Catholic square off for WPIAL Class A girls volleyball title
WPIAL CLASS A GIRLS VOLLEYBALL FINAL 3-Greensburg Central Catholic (16-3) vs. 1-Frazier (15-3) 11 a.m. Saturday, AHN Arena, Peters Township WPIAL titles: GCC (2012, 2014, 2016); Frazier (2010, 2022) Will the third time be the charm for Greensburg Central Catholic? Or does No. 1 Frazier just have the Centurions’ number...
Trib HSSN game-by-game high school football playoff preview for 2024 Week 10
Usually, you can feel a distinct chill in the air for November football where the spotlight is brighter and the stakes are simple: win and advance or lose and go home. However, there is no chill this year where these past few days have felt more like heat acclamation week....
Belle Vernon soccer coach Al Yeschenko resigns
With his son, Brandon, set to begin his college soccer career, Al Yeschenko would have been torn between coaching Belle Vernon’s boys and following Pitt-Greensburg. Rather than juggle a crowded schedule, Yeshchenko resigned from his post at Belle Vernon. He guided the boys for four years as head coach and...
