Sports
Greensburg CC Repeats as Girls A Soccer Champs
November 7, 2015
It may have taken awhile, but once again the Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions (21-1) can call themselves WPIAL champions. Sarah Ward scored the game's lone goal with 11:55 to play in the second overtime in a game played Saturday morning at Highmark Stadium. As the play developed, the ball came to Bailey Cartwright in the box. Cartwright tried to create a scoring opportunity with her back to the net. The ball came free to Ward, who softly guided it into the back of the net, to give the Centurions the win and their fourth WPIAL title in five years.
Back To Back For The Brashear Bulls
For the fourth time in school history, the Brashear Bulls claim back to back title with a 21-6 victory over the Allderdice Dragons in the Pittsburgh City League championship game at Cupples Stadium. Quarterback Therran Coleman threw 3 touchdown passes, two to Devaughn McNary in the second quarter that pushed the Bulls to a 14-0 halftime advantage. The Bulls also did the job defensively, forcing 6 Allderdice turnovers. Brashear defeated Allderdice 42-14 in last year’s title game. The win gives Brashear their 11th City League title and a berth in the PiAA playoffs in two weeks.PIAA Girls Tennis : Ananya Dua Repeats in Singles While Fox Chaple Duo Wins Doubles
The PIAA Class AAA Girls Tennis Singles and Doubles finals turned into a WPIAL love-fest as district players met each other in both title matches Saturday afternoon at the Hershey Racquet Club. Ananya Dua of Shady Side Academy made history by repeating as PIAA AAA Singles champion by beating Anna Li of North Allegheny 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. Dua is only the third WPIAL tennis player to win back-to-back state AAA singles crowns following Michaela Kissell of Latrobe (three consecutive from 2003-05) and Mount Lebanon’s Kelly Kolankiewicz (1982-83). Li beat Charlotte Madson of Upper St. Clair in the Semifinals as three district players made up the Final Four. Madson won the consolation match 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 over Payton Bradley on Downingtown West.2015 PIAA Cross-Country Results: Two WPIAL Runners Win Gold
On a day when no WPIAL teams won state titles, a pair of district runners were golden at the 2015 PIAA Cross-Country championships in Hershey on Saturday. Griffin Mackey of Sewickley Academy won the Boys Class A race with a time of 16:05 while Marianne Abdulah of Vincentian Academy added to her golden trophy collection by winning the Girls Class A race with a time of 18:50. Two WPIAL boys teams are bringing home silver as North Allegheny finished second in the AAA race and Sewickley Academy was second in the A race. Seneca Valley finished third in AAA for the highest spot on the girls side of the team competition. Here are the team winners along with the highest WPIAL team to finish in that race. BOYS AAA:WPIAL Friday Night HighLights – First Round
The lights are just a little bit brighter as 64 teams entered the district postseason three wins away from reaching every teams ultimate goal, a spot on the parking list for Championship Saturday at Heinz Field. There is no question that in the ultimate team sport, you need everybody in to win and advance at this point, but sometimes you need a player to step up and take control with an outstanding performance to keep your season alive at least for another week. So we tip our playoff caps to these ten players who were shining bright on a clear and crisp tenth Friday of the 2015 football season. Phil Jurkovec - Pine-Richland
Canon-McMillan Comes Back to Claim Boys AAA Soccer Gold in OT
The Canon-Mac Big Macs won their second WPIAL boys soccer championship at Highmark Stadium at Station Square when in the 8th minute of overtime Brandon Byer beat Fox Chapel keeper Jacob Dunn for a "Golden Goal", and a 2-1 Canon-MacMillan win. Fox Chapel had the better of play for most of the night out shooting and out-chancing the Big Macs. Fox Chapel took the lead in the 11th minutes when Kota Furuhata headed a Nathan Wecht corner behind Big Mac keeper Christian Snatchko.
Dominant Norwin Wins WPIAL Girls AAA Title
The top-seeded Norwin Knights continued their incredible defensive run with a dominatin 3-0 over the Upper Saint Clair Panthers at Highmark Stadium at Station Square Friday night to win their first WPIAL girls soccer championship since 1997. The Knights dominated throughout finally cracking the scoreboard in the 21st minute of play when Emily Harrigan headed a perfect cross from Lexie Kolano to the upper left hand corner of the goal behind USC keeper Nikki Gibbons for a 1-0 lead. As has been the case 18 times this season, that single goal would be all the Knights needed. The goal for Harrigan was her 19th of the season.
Highway to Heinz – First Round Recaps
The cones were removed and the pylons picked up as the ribbon was cut Friday at 7:30pm to open up the 2015 version of the Highway to Heinz. Like many motorists who have been frustrated by ramp closures to the Parkway recently, there was a logjam at the first exit as 32 teams were forced to exit. You can listen to any of the 32 archives on MSA Sports or check out any of the 32 recaps from the First Round of the WPIAL Football Playoffs.Scholastic Notebook – 11/06/2015
November 6, 2015
The WPIAL football playoffs start Friday night. Does that mean the Tri-County South Conference turns into the Tri-County Sour bunch once again? The Tri-County South in Class A hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2010 season. Since then, Tri-County South teams are 0-16 in the postseason. But maybe there is hope to end the postseason drought this year. Frazier finished the regular season with a 9-0 record and the Commodores were given the No. 4 seed. Frazier led the entire WPIAL in fewest points allowed this season and it plays host to South Side in a first-round game.WPIAL Friday Football Scores – 11/06/2015
There are no more second chances. There are no more 'we'll get them next week'. There are no tomorrows...unless of course you were victorious. It is win and advance time as the large field of 64 was sliced in half to 32 by the end of opening night. Cruel and unfair? Perhaps. but those are the road rules for the chosen who make the yearly trip on the Highway to Heinz. Here are the First Round scores of all 32 games, ALL of which were heard exclusively on the MSA Sports Network. WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round: Woodland Hills Wolverines 41 - Hempfield Spartans 7 (F) Bethel Park Black Hawks 34 - Kiski Area Cavaliers 26 (F) North Allegheny Tigers 56 - Norwin Knights 17 (F)2015/2016 PIHL Hockey Standings
November 5, 2015
Here are the latest 2015-2016 standings for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League. You can follow the PIHL high school hockey regular season with weekly audio and video broadcasts, plus the PIHL Notebook with classification previews every Monday in October and the PIHL Power Play Show on Wednesday nights at 8:00pm starting in December ONLY here on the MSA Sports Network. * = Clinched a Penguins Cup Playoff Spot x = Eliminated from Penguins Cup Playoff Chase PIHL CLASS AAAWPIAL Girls Volleyball Semifinals Recaps 2015
The unkindest cut of all is a loss in the Semifinals of any tournament. You're so close to reaching your ultimate goal of playing for a title that was made long before the season even began. All of the workouts and practices and you just fall short. No gold, no silver, no championship match feel. However the season is not over. For the winners, it's on to the district finals, but even for the losers, its a spot in the consolation match or a berth in the state playoffs. Here are recaps from all of the thrills on Semifinals Thursday in WPIAL Girls Volleyball. A special thanks to Cory Campano, James Dotson, Lee Mohn, Randy Gore, Sam Hall and Greg Kuntz for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAA Semifinals:Chicks Picks – Week 10 – 2015
Welcome to Week 10 of the high school football season. As a veteran prognosticator, Chick’s Picks has received countless commendations over the years. None of these honors, however, were quite as prestigious as the one earned this week. Chick’s Picks received an anonymous phone call early Sunday morning. The caller, a woman, told Chick’s Picks that her presence was requested by The Committee on Monday afternoon. Confused, Chick’s Picks inquired further as to which committee the woman was referring. The woman simply said, “Report to the Double Tree Hotel in Greentree at noon tomorrow. Bring your crystal ball. All of your questions will be answered there.”WPIAL Big Game Hunting – First Round
The Highway to Heinz begins this week, a very exciting time in southwestern Pennsylvania and at the MSA Sports Network. We have been stretched to the max by the fall championship season but with one final tug we found a way to carry every single WPIAL football playoff game yet again. We wouldn’t have it any other way. Most years I fall in love with 8 v 9 games, but this year was different for me. Looking through the brackets I found myself most fascinated by three of the 7 v 10 games. Hey at this point they’re all big games, so easy pickins as we go post season Big Game Hunting. Class AAAA:District College Football Preview for November 7th
November 4, 2015
The first week of November sees a ton of early games. The PSAC West ends it’s schedule with four games. In the PAC, a battle for the top spot in Cleveland as both Thomas More and Case Western are unbeaten. Here are previews of ALL THE GAMES. Edinboro(0-9) at Seton Hill(2-7) Noon The Fighting Scots are 0-6 in the West Division. Darren Massey is second in the PSAC with 73 catches but only has 5 touchdowns. Edinboro is the least penalized team in the PSAC at 53 yards per game.Fox Chapel Ousts North Allegheny as WPIAL AAA Field Hockey Champ
Fox Chapel won its second WPIAL Class AAA crown in the last four seasons by defeating the defending champion North Allegheny Tigers, 2-0, at Newman Stadium at North Allegheny High School on Tuesday night. The Tigers were trying for a three-peat and were facing a Fox Chapel team that had defeated them in the season opener, 4-0. The rematch was a more tightly contested affair thanks to a North Allegheny defense that was able to thwart an unrelenting Fox Chapel attack throughout the entire first half. Fox Chapel outshot North Allegheny, 15-3 on the night and dictated the pace of the game, but the Tigers managed to stymie the Foxes for a while thanks to the play of goalie Katie Shideler.Ellis School Upsets Shady Side to Repeat in WPIAL AA Field Hockey
In a WPIAL title game rematch, the Ellis School Tigers won their second straight Class AA crown with a 1-0 triumph over the Shady Side Academy Indians. The game was very similar to last year’s title tilt and again came down to a second half goal by Ellis School as the deciding factor. The Tigers had the advantage in penalty corners, 9-3, and had three consecutive corner opportunities to end the first half. Ellis was unable to capitalize on their corner tries before halftime and the game remained scoreless deep into the second half.WPIAL Girls Volleyball Quarterfinals Recaps 2015
Upsets in this years district girls volleyball postseason have been as frequent as tumbleweeds blowing down the streets of Pittsburgh. Ten of the twelve winners in Round Two were higher seeds as Montour and South Fayette in Class AA are the lone exceptions to Top Four Seeds heading into the Final Four on Thursday. Here are recaps from Quarterfinals Tuesday in the 2015 WPIAL Girls Volleyball Playoffs. A special thanks to Cory Campano, Greg Kuntz, Sean Meyers, Bob Orkwis, Rob Longo, Brandon Showers, Sam Hall, James Dotson and Dave Floyd for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAA Quarterfinals:2015 WPIAL GIRLS FIELD HOCKEY RESULTS
November 3, 2015
One of the shortest team tournaments in the WPIAL turned out to be a golden two rounds of success for the two #2-seeds. Both Fox Chapel in Class AAA and The Ellis School in Class AA upset the top seeds North Allegheny and Shady Side Academy in the district championship matches to win field hockey crowns. The title is the second for the Foxes in school history and first since 2012. Meanwhile the Tigers enjoy their sixth WPIAL field hockey championship and second straight golden stick. Ellis School won back-to-back titles in 2002 and 2003 as well. Here are ALL the results from the 2015 WPIAL Girls Field Hockey Playoffs. 2015 WPIAL GIRLS FIELD HOCKEY CLASS AAA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:WPIAL Plays of the Week – Week Nine 2015
The 2015 WPIAL football regular season came to a dramatic conclusion, with countless teams jockeying for playoff positioning, while other squads were fighting just to qualify for the postseason. This past Friday, one crucial play likely determined the top seed in Class AAA, while a thrilling shootout in Class A led to a record-setting performance. Also, the unpredictable Allegheny Conference produced more fireworks, with longtime rivals squared off with home-field advantage on the line in the Eastern Conference. Here are the best of the best from the final week of the campaign. 1. Central Valley 23, West Allegheny 13
