Sports
WPIAL Soccer Semifinals Recaps
November 3, 2015
On one side, the girls held serve as all three top-seeds and a pair of #2-seeds have advanced through the first three rounds to lead to three anticipated title matches. On the other side of the pitch, it has been a great postseason to be a #4-seed as all three upset the top-seeds in the Semifinals and are one victory away from district gold. Here are ALL of the summaries from the twelve district boys and girls Semifinals contests from Monday in the WPIAL Soccer Playoffs. A special thanks to Rob Longo, Mike Azadian, Lee Mohn, Randy Gore, Adam Hoerner, James Dotson, Matt Vandriak, Brandon Showers, Greg Kuntz and Kyle Dawson for their help on these recaps. WPIAL CLASS AAA BOYS Semifinals:
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Mackenzie Biggs
November 2, 2015
The Hopewell girls’ volleyball team was a powerhouse squad in recent years, as the Vikings captured the Class AA WPIAL Championship in 2011, and finished as runners-up the following season. One of the key components of that program’s success was Mackenzie Biggs, who is this week’s spotlighted athlete. Although also a talented basketball player at Hopewell, Biggs elected to continue her volleyball career at the next level, choosing to attend Clarion University. While seeing limited action as a freshman, Biggs carved out a larger room in 2014 as a sophomore with the Golden Eagles.MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Football Seeding Predictions
November 1, 2015
We do it every year in an effort to help the cause. Sometimes our logic is considered by the powers that be, then again, sometimes our two cents is ignored. Everybody has an opinion in how the WPIAL Football Steering Committee should set up the brackets for the upcoming ride on the Highway to Heinz.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 11/01/2015
We are done with the WPIAL football regular season and ready to ride on the Highway to Heinz starting this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We have ALL 32 First Round WPIAL Football Playoff games Friday night starting with the MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding later that night with the WPIAL Football Scoreboard Show. We also have six District 6 and District 9 high school football games along with the Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championships of the WPIAL Girls Volleyball Playoffs and the Semifinals and Championships of the WPIAL Boys and Girls Soccer Playoffs. We also have the debut of men's college basketball, plus The WPIAL Football Playoff Pairings Show. This Week in the WPIAL and the season finale of the Indiana County Coaches Show ALL here at MSAsports.netWPIAL Saturday’s Scholastic Starz – Week Nine
While we prepare to tip our cap on Saturday Starz for the final time this season (except for the four title games at Heinz Field, this year on a Saturday), we remember an old school house of thrills that will likely be no more following Saturday's game. We likely say goodbye to Historic Graham Field in Wilkinsburg as the Tigers prepare to merge with City League Westinghouse. The old grandstand has many thrilling tales to tell, including being the home to the WPIAL football finals way back in the day. it was a proper send off to a field that has hosted many a one-sided blowouts in recent years was the home to a competitive dandy on its final Saturday afternoon of varsity high school football action. Thanks for the memories old pal.FINAL 2015 WPIAL & Pittsburgh City League Football Standings
Here are the FINAL WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League football standings through the end of the 2015 high school football regular season...including the FINAL WPIAL Playoff clinchings and eliminations. 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)District College Football Recap for Saturday, October 31st
On Halloween, several of the district college football teams thought they lost their heads with some very lopsided scores. With just a couple of weeks remaining, Duquesne shares the lead in the NEC, Slippery Rock is looking for back to back trips to the PSAC State Title game and programs who have struggled in recent years are close to the top of the PAC standings. Here are recaps of ALL THE GAMES from Saturday. Duquesne 35 – Wagner 17 The Dukes remain tied with CCSU at 3-1 atop the NEC standings. Rafiq Douglas ran for 3 touchdowns as Duquesne goes to 6-3 overall.North Allegheny Wins Third Straight PIAA Girls AAA Team Tennis Title
October 31, 2015
It was like a WPIAL block party at the 2015 PIAA Girls Team Tennis Championships at the Hershey Racquet Club as five District 7 teams reached the Semifinals and three of them played in the state finals on Saturday. While Shady Side Academy in AAA and Beaver in AA lost in the championship match and brought home silver from Chocolatetown, North Allegheny claimed gold. As they did in the WPIAL AAA title match, the Tigers beat the SSA Indians to win a third straight girls tennis state crown. Here are all of the results from the 2015 PIAA Girls Team Tennis Championships. 2015 PIAA CLASS AAA GIRLS TEAM TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS 4 - SHADY SIDE ACADEMY INDIANS 1WPIAL Saturday Football Scores – 10/31/2015
Instead of using a bunch of Halloween cliches, I'll use the final day of the regular season to jump on my soap box. Very few teams that don't make the playoffs play a Week Ten game anymore. We are over ten years now since the WPIAL went from a 10 week to 9 week regular season schedule, giving non-playoff teams the option as to weather they want to play another game. Sadly, most don't. Why not? Some extra practices and one extra game couldn't hurt the underclassman. Just saying. Anyway, back to the regular season which ended today with these two final results. WPIAL CLASS A Eastern Conference: Serra Catholic Eagles 23 - Wilkinsburg Tigers 20 WPIAL CLASS A Black Hills Conference:WPIAL Football Tiebreaker Explanations
Nowadays, any Tom, Dick or Harry can find out from other what is going on and then tweet it out like they are Tom Brokaw breaking a new flash. If you listened to Friday nights WPIAL Scoreboard Show, you found out who was in and some of the why. Here is a more insightful look into how the tiebreakers worked to figure out the 2015 WPIAL football playoff field. First, an explanation the Gardner Point system: A team earns ten points for all the wins earned by every conference team they beat. What? Here is a simple way to explain. If you beat Team A who had a 6-2 conference record, you earn 60 Gardner Points for their 6 wins. If you beat Team B and they were 2-6 in conference, you earn another 20 points for their 2 wins.WPIAL Friday Night HighLights – Week Nine 2015
WOW! There was a lot of offense on the final Friday of the regular season. Some were great tune-ups for the upcoming high school football postseason. Other were wrapping up the season and going out with a blaze of glory. Whether the driving force coming into the game was a conference title, a home game, a playoff berth or just plain old civic and school color pride, here are some of the top performances on a night we could sprain our arm tipping our cap to all who deserved it. Miles Sanders - Woodland HillsWPIAL/City League Friday Football Scores – 10/30/2015
October 30, 2015
For some football teams in the WPIAL, this Halloween Eve will be filled with treats as teams search their bag of goodies and find conference championships, playoff berths and the fun-size home field advantage postseason games. For others however, this final Friday of the regular season will be filled with tricks as teams see their playoff hopes disappear with one smoky poof. Here are all the WPIAL Week Nine football games along with the one Pittsburgh City League Semifinals contest. Check back later this evening for final results and follow us on twitter @msasports for updated scores throughout the night. Games marked with (MSA) can be heard live and archived here on the MSA Sports Network. All games kick off at 7:30pm unless otherwise indicated.Scholastic Notebook – 10/30/2015
If you want to see variety, check out Paris this fall. But we’re not talking the city of Paris. We’re talking the junior do-it-all player for the Seton-LaSalle football team named Paris Ford. He is a Ford that is souped up with versatility. He is undoubtedly one of the most versatile – and best – players in the WPIAL. Ford is listed as a receiver and defensive back. He is a stud at both positions. But he also runs the football and returns kicks and punts. How versatile is he? Well, Seton-LaSalle has moved the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Ford to linebacker because that’s where they could use him the most.Sewickley Boys & North Allegheny Girls Win PIAA Team Golf Gold
A day after heavy rains forced the postponement of the PIAA Team Golf Championships on Wednesday, the Sewickley Academy boys and North Allegheny girls turned the wait into a golden experience. The Panthers in Boys AA and the Tigers in Girls AAA won PIAA Team Golf titles on Thursday afternoon at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York. After finishing second a year ago, Sewickley Academy claimed its first ever PIAA boys golf crown by shooting a combined 333, ten strokes better than runner-up New Hope-Solebury. North Allegheny girls were even more impressive by posting a score of 353 which was 23 strokes better than runner-up Mount St. Joseph.
BF’s Dom Peretta & QV’s Zach Skoinekovich Repeats as Boys Cross-Country Champs
Two of the three boys’ individual cross country winners were repeat champions, as Beaver Falls’ Domenic Peretta and Quaker Valley’s Zach Skolnekovich defended their championships, while Nick Wolk of Peters Township earned his first title. Meanwhile, all three reigning team champions successfully defended their titles in the event, which was held at Coopers Lake Campground near Slippery Rock. In Class A, Peretta, who is also a standout in track and field for Beaver Falls, notched a winning time of 16:15, 13 seconds better than Sewickley Academy’s Griffin Mackey. A senior, Peretta will be competing for the Penn State track and field team next year.
Marianne Abdalah of Vincentian Wins Third Title in Girls X-Country Finals
At the WPIAL Girls Cross Country Championships at Coopers Lake Campground, there was a brand new champ in AAA. Oakland Catholic's Lauren Finikiotis is a first ever champ for the Eagles. In AA, Knoch's Mandi Moxie won gold Vincentian Academy's Marianne Abdalah won for a third straight year. All of this came on a course that was surprisingly dry after rains from the day before. It was the wind that had more of an effect on the runners all day. In the team portion of the event, Seneca Valley in AAA, Quaker Valley in AA, and Vincentian Academy in A were crowned champions. The top three teams in each classification will move on to the state finals. The following is a list of all the teams, and individuals that will move on to the PIAA State FinalsChicks Picks – Week 9 – 2015
October 29, 2015
Welcome to Week 9 of the high school football season. Each year, Chick’s Picks heads up the official MSA Sports Network Halloween Costume Committee. This is a critical role, as finding a group costume that suits the personalities of the entire MSA Sports Network team can be quite a challenge. After managing this task for 15 years and running low on ideas, Chick’s Picks found this challenge to be exceptionally daunting this Halloween. Then, an email came through from The Boss, and it suddenly all made sense. The Boss wrote, “MSA Sports will continue our tradition in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month by wearing PINK on Friday. Do what you can to wear pink for the cause at your football game.”District College Football Preview for Saturday, October 31st
October 28, 2015
Conference races head up as Week 9 of the district college football season kicks off. The focus will be along Interstate 80 as IUP travels to Clarion to see who stays alive in the PSAC West race. Duquesne is in a three way tie for the NEC lead, while W & J fell out of the top 25 after last week’s loss in Cleveland. Here are previews of ALL THE GAMES, with recaps on Sunday morning: Robert Morris(2-5) at Central Connecticut(3-5) Noon The Colonials are 1-2 in the NEC and have dropped 2 straight.WPIAL Big Game Hunting – Week Nine 2015
Week Nine brings with it some big time rivalry games that are made extra special by the fact that they all have additional meaning and immediate impact on the playoffs. The Highway to Heinz is made so much less bumpy if that first round “on ramp” is freshly paved at your home field, and not freshly paved over a seemingly never-ending amount of time with insane restrictions the way Penn Dot is doing with the Parkway West; but, rather a nice regular season-ending victory over your biggest rival. Sorry I got a little off track there, but nonetheless one last time in the 2015 regular season, let’s go Big Game Hunting!MSA Sports Top Ten – WPIAL Football – 10/28/2015
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 Eight of the 2015 WPIAL football season. This is our Final Top 10 of the season as this Sunday, we will seed all 16 playoff teams in each of the four classifications. WPIAL CLASS AAAA WPIAL FOOTBALL TOP TEN: 1. WOODLAND HILLS WOLVERINES (8-0) (Last Week #1.....Week Nine Nine at Penn Hills on MSA) 2. PENN-TRAFFORD WARRIORS (8-0) (Last Week #2.....Week Nine at Norwin on MSA)
