Sports
Pine-Richland ‘Blows’ Past Central Catholic 21-13
November 21, 2014
The last time the Pine-Richland Rams tasted WPIAL Championship gold was 2003 when it was still a Class AAA team. The mass exodus of the Allegheny population from the Pittsburgh city limits worked to the school's advantage, warranting the WPIAL to raise the Rams' status to Quad-A competition beginning in 2010. Since that time, the program had experienced quite a few growing pains as they assimilated themselves to the competition...until now! Pine-Richland beat defending champion Pittsburgh Central Catholic Friday 21-13 at Heinz Field. (Picture above: Usually he's throwing touchdown passes, above Ben DiNucci catches a TD toss that put the Rams up 14-0)
Golden Bears Back on Top With WPIAL Class A Win
After a one year hiatus, the WPIAL Class A championship is coming back to Clairton. The Bears improved to 13-0 and won their sixth district title in the last seven years with a convincing 46-14 triumph over the Avonworth Antelopes Friday at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. (Picture left: Ryan Williams launces one of his five touchdown passes) The first quarter of the WPIAL Class A finals started as a back-and-forth battle of heavyweights throwing haymakers. On the second play of their second possession, Lamont Wade scored on a 54-yard run. The standard two-point conversion attempt by the Bears was no good on an incomplete pass.MSA Sports Frozen Fab Five – PIHL Hockey – 11/20/2014
November 20, 2014
Here are the initial MSA Sports Sports Frozen Fab Five rankings of PIHL hockey teams in each of the five classifications for the 2014-2015 high school hockey season...including a NEW #1 team in Class AAA. Don't miss the latest PIHL rankings every Wednesday during the regular season, plus starting in December, it's the PIHL Notebook every Monday on our website and the weekly PIHL Power Play Show every Wednesday night at 8:00pm here on the home of the best audio and video high school hockey coverage, the MSA Sports Network at www.MSAsports.net PIHL CLASS AAA: 1) NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS (7-1-0) (Last Week #3) 2) PETERS TOWNSHIP INDIANS (6-1-0) (Last Week #1)Chicks Picks – Championship Friday
Welcome to Week 13 of the high school football season. As Chick’s Picks began research for Championship Friday, she quickly realized all of the familiar faces that will be at Heinz Field again this year—Central Catholic, Central Valley, West Allegheny, South Fayette, Aliquippa, and Clairton. Similarly, Chick’s Picks took a moment to reflect on the many familiar faces at the MSA Sports Network that she has had the pleasure of knowing over the years.District College Football Preview for Saturday, November 22nd
The NEC winds up regular season action with the annual Steel Bowl, but the focus shifts to playoff action in both Division II and III with two tournament games and a pair of ECAC bowl games. Here are previews of ALL the games, including one on the Network: NCAA DIVISION III PLAYOFFS/FIRST ROUND W & J(9-1) at Wittenberg(9-1) Noon on WJPA 1450-AM and the MSA Sports Network It’s the 24th trip and third straight to the NCAA playoffs for the Presidents. The Presidents fell to Waynesburg 31-28 last week in overtime, ending dreams of an unbeaten season. W & J led the PAC in scoring at 45 points per game.Big Game Hunting – Week Thirteen 2014
November 19, 2014
Championship Friday on a work day for WPIAL football fans, it will be interesting to see what that does to attendance at Heinz Field. The MSA Sports gang will be there in full force and will have you covered from every angle with updates, interviews, videos, pictures, and game stories. Everything you need to enjoy Championship Friday completely will be at www.msasports.net. The larger classifications feature rematches from this regular season. AA features a rematch of last year’s championship game and in single A the Bears are back after a year away. Let’s go Big Game Hunting.WPIAL Plays of the Week – Week Twelve 2014
November 18, 2014
For all practical purposes, the Highway to Heinz is over. Up next is the WPIAL Football Championships at Heinz Field. The Steelers are scoring points at a blistering rate over their last three games at the big ketchup bottle. If the WPIAL Semifinals are indication, we could be in for a track meet on Friday. The Semis saw a rare challenge for the Bears of Clairton, a rare knockoff of the defending Class A State Champions and much, much more. So before we bundle up and make our way to the North Shore, let’s take one last look at the top plays from the WPIAL Football Semifinals:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 11/16/2014
November 16, 2014
The journey on the Highway to Heinz comes to an end with full day coverage from the Big House on the North Shore this week here on the MSA Sports Network. This years WPIAL Football Playoffs come to an end with all four Championship Games from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh along with the 2014 District Class A Championship Game from Altoona. We also have some winter sports with plenty of PIHL high school hockey contests including two more video-stream games along with men's and women's college basketball, plus its a Championship Friday Preview edition of This Week in the WPIAL ALL here at MSAsports.netDistrict College Football Recap for Saturday, November 15th
Regular season play wraps up in the PAC with a big upset and the PSAC State Title Game comes down to the wire. Here are recaps of ALL the games, including two heard here on the Network. Waynesburg 31 – W & J 28 in overtime The 11th ranked Presidents scored in the final minute to force overtime but it was the Yellow Jackets who knock off their hated rivals in the PAC Backyard Brawl and remove W & J from the ranks of the unbeaten. Scott Lewis kicked a 34 yard field goal for the win after Kyle Richey blocked Blake Davis’ attempt for W & J.
2014 PIAA Boys Soccer Playoffs Final Results
November 15, 2014
Another golden soccer ball is headed to the Peters Township High School trophy case after the Indians won the PIAA Class AAA state title Saturday 2-1 at Hersheypark Stadium. The state title is the fourth for Peters Township, which also won in 1988, 1989 and 2007. Meanwhile, there was no back-to-back PIAA crowns for Sewickley Academy. The Panthers, who settled for silver in the district playoffs earlier this month, return home from Hershey with more silver after being blanked by District 11 champion Moravian Academy Friday night 4-0. Here are ALL of the results from the 2014 PIAA Boys Soccer Playoffs. 2014 PIAA CLASS AAA BOYS SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: PETERS TOWNSHIP INDIANS 2 - Great Valley Patriots 1
2014 PIAA Girls Soccer Playoffs Final Results
So close, and yet so silver for Canon-McMillan. Sabrina Bryan's goal just 32 second into the match would not hold up as Central Bucks West scored with under six minutes left in regulation to force overtime, then tallied the game winner off a free kick as the Bucks prevailed in OT 2-1 Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium. It is the second runner-up trophy for the Big Macs, who lost to Seneca Valley in the district finals. The weekend got off to a rough start Friday when WPIAL Class A champion Greensburg Central Catholic was shutout by District 3 Camp Hill Trinity 3-0. Here are ALL of the results from the 2014 PIAA Girls Soccer Playoffs. 2014 PIAA CLASS AAA GIRLS SOCCER STATE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
2014 PIAA Girls Volleyball Playoffs Final Results
2014 has turned out to be a golden year in girls volleyball for Greensburg Central Catholic. On the first of the month, GCC slipped past postseason rival Bishop Canevin to capture their second WPIAL championship in the last three years, then on Saturday in Johnstown, the Centurions won another five-game thriller by edging District 11 champion Marian Catholic. It was a rare state title for a WPIAL team, ending a seven year drought since the West Allegheny Indians won the Class AA crown in 2006. Farrell in 2002 was the last Class A team from the WPIAL to win PIAA girls volleyball gold. Here are ALL of the results from the 2014 PIAA Girls Volleyball Playoffs. 2014 PIAA CLASS AAA GIRLS VOLLEYBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
2014 PIAA Girls Field Hockey Playoffs Final Results
Over the last two years, Penn Manor, Crestwood and Villa Maria Academy have reached the state title match only to settle for silver. Now one of them has an outright state title, one has a co-championship and the other has more silver. In the end, Penn Manor and Palmyra are AAA co-champs while Villa Maria Academy is the AA title winner. Here are ALL of the final results from the 2014 PIAA Girls Field Hockey Playoffs. 2014 PIAA CLASS AAA FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP: Penn Manor Comets 1 - Palmyra Cougars 1 PIAA CLASS AAA Semifinals: Penn Manor Comets 2 - Central Bucks South Titans 0 Palmyra Cougars 4 - Emmaus Hornets 0WPIAL Friday Night HighLights for 11/14
Including this below article and for the days ahead, there will be a lot of talk about the eight teams that will square off for a WPIAL football championship at Heinz Field to cap off the 2014 District 7 Playoffs. But eight teams that enjoyed OUTSTANDING seasons came up one victory short of taking the full ride on the Highway to Heinz all the way to the North Shore. Five of those eight teams did not lose until Friday night while the other three tasted defeat for only the second time this season.WPIAL Football Playoff Semifinals Recaps
Ten WPIAL football teams came into Final Four Friday with a perfect 11-0 mark. Half of them are moving on to the finals while the other five suffer with a final mark of 11-1. That's the tough part of losing and seeing your season end one victory away from Heinz Field. Here are recaps from all eight WPIAL Semifinals games that you can hear archived on The Network. A special thanks to Brandon Showers, Josh Rowntree, Cory Campano, Bob Orkwis, Rob Matzie, Pete Blais, Mark Schaas and Sean Meyers for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAAA Semifinals:WPIAL Week 12 Friday Football Scores
November 14, 2014
The unkindest cut indeed. Lets examine losing the playoffs, which admittedly is never a good thing. Losing next week in the Finals is rough, but you have memories you can share with your kids and grandkids about playing in the Big House on the North Shore. Losing in the First Round stinks...losing in the Quarterfinals really stinks...but losing in the Semifinals when you are so close to reaching the goal of playing for gold and not getting that chance on the grandest stage REALLY, well, this is a family oriented website so we'll just agree it's bad. Eight teams will have that sick feeling after tonight while the other eight will think its sick that they are headed to the title game. check our twitter account or scores page for updated scores throughout the night.Scholastic Notebook – 11/14/2014
It has been well-documented how Pine-Richland quarterback Ben DiNucci has turned out to be one of the most prolific passers in the history of the WPIAL. But DiNucci also has benefitted from a terrific one-two receiving punch. It looks like you could call seniors D’ondre Gastion and Mike Merhaut are a receiving duo for the ages. There are no records available for best receiving one-two punches, but you can bet you will be hard-pressed to find many duos from the same team who have been as productive as Gastion and Merhaut. How many teams have had two receivers with 100 or more career catches? But that’s what Pine-Richland has in Gastion and Merhaut, a pair of seniors.District 5, 6, 8, 9 & 10 High School Football Playoffs UPDATE
November 13, 2014
While the WPIAL Football Playoffs hit Final Four Friday, other neighboring districts in Western Pennsylvania continued their gridiron postseason this weekend. All of these district football playoffs eventually funnel into the 2014 PIAA Football Playoffs and the Road to Hershey next weekend. Here are ALL the results from Friday and Saturday in the District 5, District 6, District 9 and District 10 playoffs. DISTRICT 6/8/9/10 CLASS AAAA Semifinals: Erie McDowell Trojans 35 - Brashear Bulls 6 State College Little Lions 29 - DuBois Beavers 7 DISTRICT 5/6/9/10 CLASS AAA Championship Game: Somerset Golden Eagles 27 - Clearfield Bison 0District College Football Preview for Saturday, November 15th
The PSAC State Title Game comes to Slippery Rock, Rivarly Week takes place in the PAC and the NEC continues finish up conference play. Here are previews of ALL the games, incluidng two that can be heard in on the Network. Westminster(3-6) at Geneva(3-6) 1pm on WBVP 1230-AM/WMBA 1460-AM and the MSA Sports Network It’s the rivalry known simply as “The Game” and has been played 117 times. The Titans lead the series 64-44-8. The Titans are 3-4 in the PAC, coming off a 41-7 victory over Grove City.WPIAL Plays of the Week – Week Eleven 2014
We’ve reached the midway point of the 2014 WPIAL Football Playoffs and has the Highway To Heinz ever been better? Seeds 1, 2, 3 and 5 make up every final four in each classification as we head into the Semifinals. But before we get there, let’s take a look back at a remarkable Quarterfinal Round with the Plays of the Week:
