Tag: Franklin Regional
Franklin Regional Repeats as PIHL Pens Cup 1-A Champs
March 21, 2017
For nearly the first 14 minutes of the PIHL Class A title game between Franklin Regional and Indiana, it seemed as if the goaltenders on each respective side would be perfect, seemingly feeding off the raucous atmosphere inside the UPMC Sports Lemieux Sports Complex. However, that changed 13:50 into the first period, when Oldrich Virag netted his first of two goals as the Panthers beat the Little Indians 6-1 for their second straight PIHL Penguins Cup Class 1-A championship. The Virag opening tally came off a feed from Justin Gismondi and Nick Carretta, all three of which had multiple point games.PIHL Penguins Cup Playoff Recaps for Monday, March 13th
March 14, 2017
The competitive nature of these 2017 PIHL high school hockey playoffs continued into Round Three on Monday as both Penguins Cup Class 1-A Semifinals games went down to the wire at the RMU Sports Complex on Neville Island. Defending champion needed a frantic comeback late in the third period to return to the title game while Indiana needed overtime to clinch their second title game trip in the last three years. Here are the recaps from both Class 1-A Semifinals that you can hear or watch archived here on MSA Sports. A special thanks to Kyle Dawson and Kevin Zielmanski for their help on these recaps. PIHL PENGUINS CUP CLASS 1-A Semifinals:Scholastic Notebook – 03/12/2017
March 12, 2017
New Castle was a good 3-point shooting team in the regular season. But the Red Hurricanes’ marksmanship has even improved in the postseason, and is it any wonder New Castle hasn’t lost a playoff game? New Castle won the WPIAL Class 4A championship and romped past Sharon in the first round of the PIAA playoffs. New Castle has averaged nine made 3-pointers a game in four postseason games and coach Ralph Blundo’s team is shooting 43 percent behind the arc in playoff games. That is excellent for any team, let alone a high school team. New Castle made 11, 9 and 10 3-pointers in three WPIAL playoff games, and then made 7 of 22 against Sharon in the first round of the playoffs.
PIAA Wrestling: Class 3-A FINAL Results
March 11, 2017
The expectation coming in to the Giant Center in Hershey was for the world to see history. But the history the crowd seen was certainly unexpected. At 126, Spencer Lee of Franklin Regional was looking to become the 13th wrestler in PIAA history to win four state championships. In his way was undefeated South Central champion Austin DeSanto of Exeter Township. The two battled for much of the match with DeSanto scoring last, a takedown just as the buzzer sounded to defeat Lee and shock the world, 6-5. Lee, who was wrestling with a knee brace, gave word to the media after his match that he had been wrestling all postseason with a complete tear of his ACL.
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Josh Shields
February 27, 2017
For many years, Western Pennsylvania has been a hotbed for high-school wrestling. In particular, the Franklin Regional Panthers produced a few historic seasons recently. Josh Shields was one of the key components of the Panthers success, and now he's achieved similar success on the mat at Arizona State. Shields, who on Sunday claimed both individual and team gold, is this week's feature for the WPIAL Alum Q&A.
MSA Sports Top 25 WPIAL Stories of 2016 – #20 through #16
December 30, 2016
It has become a tradition like no other...at least during the holiday season here at the MSA Sports Network. As we close out 2016 and another great high school sports year, we look back at some of the top stories from around the WPIAL in calendar year 2016. We continue our countdown with #20 through #16. #20 - FROM NUMBER ONE TO DONEChicks Picks for Week Ten
November 3, 2016
Welcome to Week 10 of the high school football season. Chick’s Picks attended the annual Playoff Pairings meeting on Monday night. After witnessing so much joy from the teams that punched their tickets to the postseason, Chick’s Picks couldn’t help but feel bad for those that missed out – especially those with only a few losses on the year. The situation reminded Chick’s Picks of a time when the MSA Sports crew got together for pick-up game of dodgeball. The Boss and world-renowned broadcaster Sam Hall were the team captains. Based on her athletic prowess, Chick’s Picks was sure that she would be drafted in the early rounds.Big Game Hunting for Week Ten
As we embark on the ‘Highway to Heinz’ or the Road to RMU I feel like we should all wear helmet decals in the postseason to honor the Beaver Bobcats, who in one Friday night; go from the number one team in the state of Pennsylvania in 3 A, to not in the playoffs. We need to keep a “Captain’s pick” spot open like they do in golf for the Ryder Cup team. Now we make our way towards the championships on the MSA Sports Network, huge games every week, as always send your complaints about those not included in BGH to @JohnnyLee@msasports.net as he takes over the complaint department for all playoff moaning. So with that out of the way we can get set to go postseason Big Game Hunting.Chicks Picks for Week Nine
October 27, 2016
Welcome to Week 9 of the high school football season. As regular season play wraps up, Chick’s Picks knew that she needed to check in on The Boss at MSA Sports World Headquarters. For quite some time, Chick’s Picks had been aware of the overtime put in by The Boss this time of year. However, what she witnessed when she walked into World Headquarters was still a shock. There he was, The Boss, pecking away at his keyboard relentlessly with his two index fingers. Moments later, when The Boss finally realized that he had a visitor, Chick’s Picks noticed his tired, bloodshot eyes, unkempt hair, and disorder throughout his office.Big Game Hunting for Week Nine 2016
The final week of the regular season arrives and things are still a bit murky around the WPIAL, but as always the “Boss” has made it clear and precise, if you have questions about your team and their post season needs or desires, it is laid out here, http://www.msasports.net/articles/2016-wpial-football-playoff-picture. That amount of work can only be a labor of love, and when the boss is doing a labor of love, the worker-bees will almost always do the same. Like the famous line in Remember the Titans, “Attitude reflects leadership”. So, this opening paragraph is dedicated to my colleagues, each of them I know, doing this job because they love it.
