Sports
WPIAL Plays of the Week – Week Two 2015
September 15, 2015
The second week of the football season was perhaps even more exciting and unpredictable than the first. To that point, this installment includes another instant classic between Class AA Allegheny Conference foes, as well as a Big Ten Conference powerhouse tasting defeat for the second straight week. Additionally, this compilation highlights narrow victories in the closing moments by a pair of teams hoping to rebound from their difficult 2014 campaigns. Without further adieu, here's the top plays for week two. 1. Highlands 31, Apollo-Ridge 28 (OT)This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 09/15/2015
The warm weather isn't gone yet, thanks in part to the hot action on the gridiron, the pitch, the court and the links with lots of great fall high school sports action this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We move on to Week Three of the high school football season with 29 WPIAL weekend contests starting Friday night with the MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding later that night with the WPIAL Football Scoreboard Show.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Football – 09/14/2015
September 14, 2015
Each and every Monday during the regular season, the MSA Sports Network will rank the Top Ten football teams in each classification. These are the rankings following Week One of the 2015 WPIAL football season including only two new teams overall. WPIAL CLASS AAAA WPIAL FOOTBALL TOP TEN: 1. PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS (2-0) (Last Week #1.....Week Three at #8 North Allegheny on MSA) 2. WOODLAND HILLS WOLVERINES (2-0) (Last Week #2.....Week Three at Shaler on Saturday on MSA) 3. PENN-TRAFFORD WARRIORS (2-0) (Last Week #3.....Week Three host #4 McKeesport on MSA)
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Nate Stone
WPIAL Alum Q&A is a new weekly question and answer segment with a former high school standout who is now excelling at the college level. It will span the fall, winter and spring seasons, and will focus on both male and female athletes in a variety of sports. For the inaugural installment, we take a closer look at Nate Stone. A Scottdale native, Stone enjoyed a stellar career with the Greensburg Central Catholic football team. A 2014 graduate, he continued his academic and athletic career at Duquesne University. In his freshman year, Stone started at linebacker for the Dukes, and he compiled 100 tackles. As a result of his strong play, the 6-foot, 240 pound linebacker earned the Northeast Conference Defensive Rookie of the Year award.District College Football Recap for September 12th
September 13, 2015
Week two of the district college football schedule saw wet weather and fall temperatures move into the area, along with great action Included in that action was overtime in Youngstown and a down to the wire finish in the PAC. Here are recaps of ALL the games: Youngstown State 21 – Robert Morris 14 in overtime The Colonials entered the Ice Castle on Saturday night a decided underdog but took the #17 Penguins to overtime.2015 WPIAL & Pittsburgh City League Standings – Week 2
Here are the latest WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League football standings through Week Two of the 2015 high school football season. Once again this year, we have added points for, point against and the updated WPIAL tiebreaker points for all 123 teams. Standings are updated after Friday and Saturday's scholastic gridiron action each week. Standings can be also seen on each teams football webpage here on the MSA Sports Network. (Top 5 teams from AAAA and AAA conferences qualify for playoffs plus a sixth place wild card team) (Top 4 teams from AA and A conferences qualify for the playoffs) # = Clinched Section Title * = Clinched Playoff Berth x = Eliminated From Playoff ChaseWPIAL Saturday’s Scholastic Starz
While Mother Nature was raining steady on Western Pennsylvania, several district high school football teams were reigning points on the scoreboard. While Mother Nature showed some mercy with downpours becoming light trickles before tapering off, three of the five WPIAL football winners on Saturday invoked the mercy rule on their opponents. While we show no love to Mother Nature here, we do show some love for those players who overcame the wet conditions to slip and slide their way to victory. Lionel Deanes - Seton-LaSalleWPIAL Friday Night HighLights – Week Two 2015
September 12, 2015
While Mother Nature held off on the fancy sky light shows and the rain that plagued many games on opening night, the second Friday of the season was an historic one in two ways. First, a tip of the cap 700 times to the Jeannette Jayhawks for becoming only the second district school and sixth school in Pennsylvania to mass that many wins. And one win has eluded Thomas Jefferson in the first two weeks of a season for the first time in the 21-year golden career of head coach Bill Cherpek. It was also a memorable Friday for these young men: Phil Jurkovec - Pine-RichlandWPIAL Saturday Football Scores – 09/12/2015
A wild and wonderful afternoon and evening of high school football on the second Saturday of the season was a WET and wild and wonderful Saturday of high school football. A pair of afternoon frays (aww yeah) and three Saturday night specials involving four top ten football teams were played in a steady rain. Here are ALL of the finals from the five district contests. Games marked with (MSA) after them can be heard archived on MSAsports.net WPIAL CLASS AA Century Conference: Seton-LaSalle Rebels 49 - South Allegheny Gladiators 6 (MSA) WPIAL CLASS A Eastern Conference: Clairton Bears 72 - Wilkinsburg Tigers 6 WPIAL CLASS A Big 7 Conference:
WPIAL/Pittsburgh City League Friday Football Scores – 09/11/2015
September 11, 2015
9/11. Two numbers that together will go down in history as one of, if not the most tragic day for our nation. The memories from 14 years ago are still fresh in the minds for those us us old enough to remember. I had not been born in November of 1963, but i always marveled at those who were around and how vivid their memories were when I asked them where they were when President Kennedy was assassinated. They would answer with clear recollection of an event seared into their memory. 9/11 was my generations JFK. Two tragic stains on our nations history that we hope and pray we won't need to ever relive. It is on this historic day that we come together to celebrate one of the many enjoyments awarded to us by freedom. With that said, remember it's only a game...but it's a game we love.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Girls Soccer – 09/11/2015
Here are the MSA Sports Top Ten WPIAL girls soccer rankings for the week of September 7th. You can check out the new rankings every Tuesday through the regular season with weekly matches heard live and archived, including Hometown Soccer broadcasts each week. You can also listen to exclusive coverage of the 2015 WPIAL Soccer Playoffs and the check out the Pro Grass Boys and Girls Soccer Player of the Month in September, October and November ONLY here on the MSA Sports Network. WPIAL GIRLS SOCCER CLASS AAA: 1) SENECA VALLEY RAIDERS (2-0-0) (Last Week #*) 2) CANON-McMILLAN BIG MACS (3-0-0) (Last Week #*)Scholastic Notebook – 09/11/2015
Duane Brown’s sidekick is gone, but Brown’s game apparently still has a lot of kick. Brown is a junior football player at Apollo-Ridge. A year ago, he and Tre Tipton were a one-of-a-kind one-two punch, as both played quarterback and some at receiver/running back. They were believed to be the first quarterback pair in WPIAL history to both rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Tipton is now at Pitt, but life is anything but the pits for Brown. At least after the first week of the season. Look at the statistical leaders for the WPIAL after Week 1 and Brown is the only one you will see in the receiving, rushing and scoring leaders.Hometown Boys Soccer Recap – Seneca Valley Raiders – 09/11/2015
Seneca Valley, MSA’s #3-ranked Class AAA boys soccer squad, battled to a scoreless tie with Section 2 rival Pine-Richland (0-1-1, 0-1-1) Thursday evening at NexTier Stadium in Harmony, Pennsylvania. The Raiders generated many offensive opportunities during the first half of action, including five shots on goal and six corner kicks, only to be stymied by the solid play of senior Pine-Richland goalkeeper Jake Reuter. Seneca Valley’s first half offense also featured a number of dangerous set piece kicks by senior midfielder T.J. Turley. The Raiders best scoring chance of the contest came late in the first of action as junior forward Matt Happ rang a shot off the cross bar of a wide-open goal.Hometown Girls Volleyball Recap – West Allegheny Indians – 09/11/2015
The West Allegheny Indians got off the proverbial snide with a decisive yet hard-earned victory over the Mt Lebanon Blue Devils on their home court Thursday night, September 10. The Indians got off to a fast start in Game 1, taking advantage of a number of mental mistakes by the Blue Devils en route to a 25-18 win. Game 2 also went the way of the Indians, but the Blue Devils made them earn it, at least for a while. Mt Lebanon kept it close until it was tied at 18, but West A took the last 7 points to take a 2-0 lead in the match. There was a sharp momentum shift in Game 3 as things started to come together for the Blue Devils and fall apart for the Indians. Mt Lebo led by as many 9 and eventually took Game 3, 25-17.Chick Picks for Week Two
September 10, 2015
Welcome to Week 2 of the high school football season. The term Friday Night Lights was given new meaning last week, with severe storms and lightning causing several Week 1 games to be delayed and even postponed. Earlier last week, Chick’s Picks was contacted by one of her fellow MSA Sports broadcasters, Matt Vandriak, who had a proposition for the prognosticator. He said, “Hey Chick’s – I’m going to be broadcasting the inaugural Armstrong River Hawks game Friday night. I think it would be great if I could take your crystal ball along to the press box. Good PR for the network.” Chick’s Picks, who is not one to pass up publicity, agreed. So, off went the crystal ball.District College Football Preview For September 12th
September 9, 2015
Week two of the local college football slate brings cooler weather and conference play in the PAC. The PSAC features the first week of East/West crossover action and the NEC features non conference play as Robert Morris makes a short trip from Moon Township to face a nationally ranked foe. Here are previews of all the games, recaps will be posted on Sunday.WPIAL Big Game Hunting – Week Two 2015
I don’t know if there will be a moment of silence for the remembrance of 9-11-01 at your game Friday night around the WPIAL. I think there should be. I hope there will be, and I believe there will be, but I don’t know for certain. I know this, Friday for me at South Park, I will take a moment to myself to soak in the National Anthem with a little more thought than "who won the toss", or "where are their starters". I hope you do so as well, we should do that more often. I was a brand new father on 9-11, my daughter, now a freshman at Bishop Canevin, had not reached a month old when the Towers fell, and the kids on the fields in front of you Friday night were the same, or just a little older. They don’t know that fear that we felt that morning, and I pray they never do.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Boys Soccer – 09/09/2015
Here are the MSA Sports Top Ten WPIAL boys soccer rankings for the week of September 7th. You can check out the new rankings every Wednesday through the regular season with weekly matches heard live and archived, including Hometown Soccer broadcasts each week. You can also listen to exclusive coverage of the 2015 WPIAL Soccer Playoffs and the check out the Pro Grass Boys and Girls Soccer Player of the Month in September, October and November ONLY here on the MSA Sports Network. WPIAL BOYS SOCCER CLASS AAA: 1) PETERS TOWNSHIP INDIANS (2-0-1) (Last Week #*) 2) PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS (0-0-1) (Last Week #*)2015 WPIAL Girls Volleyball Standings
Here are the latest WPIAL girls volleyball standings for the 2015 season. Standings will be updated daily through the regular season, leading up to MSA Sports EXCLUSIVE coverage of the 2015 WPIAL Girls Volleyball Playoffs in October. Also, don't forget to click on the Girls Volleyball sports page for information on the 2015 MSA Sports Hometown Girls Volleyball Program and tune in for the Hometown Girls Volleyball Show on Monday nights at 7:00pm here on MSA Sports. Only section record is shown. MSA Sports Hometown Girls Volleyball Program teams are capitalized. (Top 3 teams from each section qualify for playoffs) # = Clinched Section Title * = Clinched Playoff Berth x = Eliminated From Playoff ChaseWPIAL Plays of the Week – Week One 2015
September 8, 2015
After months of anticipation, the high school football season returned on Friday night in the WPIAL. The slate of games was not short on marquee action, as a few conference favorites were upset, and several other games came down to the closing moments. Here's the top plays for the initial installment of the 2015 campaign. 1. Mount Pleasant 30, McGuffey 23 (OT)
