Sports
Winchester Thurston Unseats Sewickley Academy in Boys A Shootout
November 1, 2014
Sewickley Academy have certainly been no strangers to the WPIAL Class A Boys Soccer Finals, having won the title in 2005 and 2007 and 2013. In stark contrast, Winchester Thurston was making their first ever appearance in the Finals, highlighted by tough 1-0 victories over Riverview and Vincentian in the quarters and semis respectively. The experience was not a factor as the Bears edged the Panthers 1-0 in an overtime shootout. The 2 teams underwent a feeling-out process throughout the 1st half, though both teams had their share of chances. Solid goaltending and defense, in a trend that continue throughout the game, kept both teams off the board.
Montour Girls Win First Soccer Crown in Beating Mars
The Montour girls’ soccer team had no playoff victories in school history heading into the 2014 postseason, but the No. 5 seed Lady Spartans now have a WPIAL title trophy, as they knocked off second-seeded Mars 3-1 in the Class AA Championship match on Saturday at Highmark Stadium. Montour jumped out to an early lead less than five minutes into the contest, as senior Lauren Gerstel’s free kick from beyond midfield fooled Mars’ goalkeeper Sammy Papik. Papik got a piece of the ball, but it bounced over her head and into the net to provide the early edge to the Spartans.
Greensburg Central Catholic Wins 2nd Girls Volleyball Title in 3 Years
The 2014 edition of the WPIAL Class A Girl’s Volleyball Championship showcased the two best teams in the conference. The #1 Bishop Canevin Crusaders went to battle with the #2 Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions on the first day of November at Baldwin High School in Whitehall Township.
Ford City Going Out in Golden Style
The Ford City Sabers took home the AA Girls Volleyball Championship with their win in five sets over Thomas Jefferson. The win was hard fought as both teams battled to the end and gave it their all. For Ford City it was their first WPIAL Volleyball Championship in school history. Remarkably, it comes in the last year of Ford City’s WPIAL existence. Next year the school is set to merge with Kittanning. Head coach Andrea Lasher was ecstatic as she saw her team win the final set 15-13 to seal the deal and hand TJ it’s first loss.
Brashear Is Golden in City League Title Game
The Brashear Bulls claimed their tenth Pittsburgh City League football championship in a convincing way with a 42-14 victory over the Allderdice Dragons Saturday afternoon at Cupples Stadium. Quarterback Therron Coleman was named the game’s MVP, going six of eight for 56 yards through the air and rushing for 62 yards and a score in the win. The win avenges a 36-0 loss to the Dragons in week 4.
GCC Crushes Freedom For 3rd Girls A Soccer Title in 4 Years
The start was at 11:00am, but for the Freedom Bulldogs it may as well been at midnight. Freedom was not able to finish off their Cinderella run when they lost to the top seeded Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 9-1 in WPIAL Class A Soccer Championships. The game started out like the semi-final game for Freedom vs Shady Side Academy and they controlled the ball and played offense most of the first five minutes. The problem was though after that it was all Centurions. Greensburg opened the scoring when senior Cassie Sauder took a shot from twenty yards out and it cleared the Bulldogs keeper Jacklyn Hartle at the 7:58 mark.WPIAL Friday Night HighLights for 10/31
You remember some of the homemade costumes from back in the day, don't you? While all the neighborhood kids had fancy costumes, you had a while cloth diaper on your head with a while coat and were supposed to be a doctor. Or you had a big box on your torso and a little one on your head and each box was covered with aluminum foil and you were a robot. Or grab the bed sheet, cut out some eyes and a ghost was born. Those Halloween costumes pail to what these young men wore on Friday night as they collected a pillow case full of tasty big plays dressed up in various super hero costumes in leading their teammates past all of the tricks and on to the treat of playing in the WPIAL Quarterfinals. Ben DiNucci - Pine-RichlandWPIAL Football Playoff First Round Recaps 2014
'Taking care of business, every day. Taking car of business, every way.' With apologies to Bachman-Turner Overdrive, that might have been the theme for the top seeds Friday night as 22 of the 24 Top Six seeds produced victories of various degree and advanced as expected past the First Round and on to the district football Quarterfinals. Here are recaps from the opening night of the 2014 version of the Highway to Heinz.Peters Township Whips Upper St. Clair 5-1 to Repeat as Boys Soccer AAA Champs
Peters Township turned the same trick they did last season and treated their fans to a ninth WPIAL championship in soccer Friday night at Highmark Stadium.The Indians playing in a constant cold. light rain built a 3-0 against their conference rival Upper Saint Clair and eventually won going away 5-1. The Indians entered the game as the three seed against the top-seeded Panthers. USC, just as they had done last year entering the championship tilt had beaten Peters Township twice during the regular season. Peters though, just as they did last year though proved winning the last game trumps winning the first two.Seneca Valley Blanks Canon-McMillan to Win 2nd Straight WPIAL AAA Girls Soccer Crown
Seneca Valley won their second straight and fourth overall WPIAL girls soccer championship with a 1-0 victory over the Canon-McMillan Big Macs at Highmark Stadium Friday night. The top-seeded Raiders got everything they wanted from the upstart 10th seed as the two teams battled to a scoreless tie at the end of the first forty minutes. In fact Canon-Mac seemed to gain a lot of confidence and had the better of play for the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half. The Big Macs though despite generating several opportunities and three corner kicks in the opening minutes of the second half could not sneak one behind Seneca Valley net keeper Jessica Neil.WPIAL Week 10 Friday Football Scores
October 31, 2014
Was Round One of the 2014 WPIAL Football Playoffs a Trick or a Treat for your favorite football team? That was the question after opening round fell on Halloween night this year. WPIAL Executive Director Tim O'Malley braved the wet and chilly conditions and head out with his big giant scissors to cut the ribbon to officially open the Highway to Heinz. Chyeck out ALL of the results from the First Round on Friday. You can listen to ALL 32 postseason games archived on MSAsports.net WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round: Pine-Richland Rams 63 - Connellsville Falcons 6 (MSA) Altoona Mountain Lions 27 - Bethel Park Black Hawks 17 (MSA) Plum Mustangs 17 - Penn Hills Indians 6 (MSA)Scholastic Notebook – 10/31/2014
The Southmoreland football team failed to make the WPIAL football postseason again. The Scotties haven’t been to the playoffs since 1979, the longest current drought in the WPIAL. But there are some other playoff droughts that are notable as the WPIAL playoffs get under way Friday with 32 games around the area. Three teams in the postseason have never won a WPIAL playoff game. Never, ever, ever. They are Laurel Highlands, Mapletown and Altoona. Altoona is a little deceiving. The school re-joined the WPIAL for football only a few years ago. But the school played in the WPIAL a long time ago. Altoona has played in only two previous WPIAL playoff games. The last was in 2012. The first was in 1969 when Altoona lost to Gateway in the WPIAL final.
WPIAL Girls Volleyball Semifinals Thursday Recaps 2014
October 30, 2014
Coming into the Final Four, two of the three top-seeds were still alive as were all three defending champs. One champ and one #1-seed were eliminated all in the same match as Freeport was knocked off, guaranteeing a new champion would be crowned in Class AA. Here are recaps from all six Semifinals matches Thursday in the 2014 WPIAL Girls Volleyball Playoffs. A special thanks to Cory Campano, Randy Gore, Mike Azadian, Bob Orkwis, Sean Meyers and Brandon Showers for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAA Semifinals:Chicks Picks – Week Ten – 2014
Welcome to Week 10 of the high school football season. Chick’s Picks attended the wedding of a dear friend last weekend. The lavish affair featured dinner entertainment by a celebrity musician. Awestruck by his performance, Chick’s Picks was determined to find an opportunity in this intimate setting to personally applaud the star. As guests began to mingle after dinner, Chick’s Picks spotted the celebrity packing up his equipment and headed his way. Before she could get out a formal introduction, though, the celebrity interrupted, “Wow, is that really you Chick’s Picks? You’re my idol! No one can prognosticate quite like you!”2014 Big Game Hunting – The Football Fourpack for Week 10
We live for the Highway to Heinz at Big Game Hunting. A short week of preparation for a do or die game puts coaches, players and yes, broadcasters to the test. But the accepting the challenge is enough!District College Football Preview for Saturday, November 1
Week 9 of the district college football slate was to see a battle for first place in the PSAC West with #25 California hosting Gannon on Saturday afternoon. But school officials announced Thursday afternoon that the Vulcans would forfeit the game to the Golden Knights after five players were arrested and charged after a violent incident outside of a local bar early Thursday morning. Interim President Geraldine Jones, in a release to the media, announced that she had asked that the game be cancelled. The five players have been suspended from the school and the PSAC informed Cal that they would forfeit the game.WPIAL Plays of the Week – Week Nine 2014
Rivalry week was the final stop before we hopped on the Highway to Heinz. And boy, it did not disappoint. Big defensive plays, a massively important kick and one special play for a Valley Junior top the best plays of Week Nine. Before you load up the car for what will, for your team, hopefully be a lengthy ride, make sure you look back at the final stop of the regular season with the Plays of the Week:
A Tigers Tale: North Allegheny and Ellis Win WPIAL Field Hockey Gold
October 29, 2014
The Class AA top-seeded Ellis School Tigers won their first WPIAL crown since 2010 with a 1-0 victory over the defending Class AA champion Shady Side Academy Indians at Newman Stadium at North Allegheny High School on Tuesday night. Ellis School claimed its fifth overall title thanks in large part to the play of senior midfielder Mackenzie Haney who scored the only goal of the night with 4:25 remaining in the first half. Haney was a force offensively in the opening half, and turned her attention toward protecting the lead in the second half as the Tigers rarely permitted the Indians a good look inside the circle.
WPIAL Girls Volleyball Quarterfinals Tuesday Recaps
October 28, 2014
The Second Round of the district girls volleyball playoffs saw a defending champion stay alive by ousting the top-seed in Class AAA, a surprise run by a double-digit seed continued into Round Three and two powers in Class A move closer to yet another championship showdown. Here are recaps from all twelve Quarterfinals matches from Tuesday, all of which were heard here on the MSA Sports Network. A special thanks to Brandon Showers, Mike Azadian, Bob Orkwis, Sean Meyers, Mark Schaas, Cory Campano, Chris Lackner, Lou Rood, Buddy McKay, Lee Mohn and Greg Kuntz for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAA Quarterfinals:WPIAL Soccer Semifinals Monday Recaps
In the end, the WPIAL soccer steering committee did a pretty good job as the top seeds have progressed nicely through the district postseason. In fact, five of the six top-seeds will be playing for gold this weekend along with a pair of #2's, two #3's and a #5. The lone exceptions are the surprise runs of the #10 Canon-McMillan Big Macs in girls AAA and the #11 Freedom Bulldogs in girls A. Here are recaps from all twelve boys and girls WPIAL Soccer Semifinals matches on Monday as heard here on MSA Sports. All six title matches this weekend will also be heard here on MSA Sports. A special thanks to Mike Azadian, Brandon Showers, Adam Hoerner, Rob Longo, Mike Sackley, Cory Campano, Lou Rood, Greg Kuntz and Mark Schaas for their help on these recaps!
