High School category, Page 409
What to watch for in WPIAL sports for Sept. 19, 2023: Battle of unbeatens set between North Allegheny, Seneca Valley
The last two boys soccer teams to win back-to-back WPIAL championships in the highest classification are Seneca Valley and North Allegheny. The only undefeated teams left in WPIAL Class 4A boys soccer this season are the Raiders and the Tigers. The two district juggernauts prepare to battle for the first...
Trib HSSN football team of the week for 2023 Week 3
Knoch second-year coach Tim Burchett has an offensive background, serving as offensive coordinator under T.J. Plack at Peters Township before taking the Knights head coaching job. He calls the plays for a Knights team that is now 4-0 and is averaging more than 32 points per game. However, Knoch was...
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Sasha Hoffman excels on, off tennis court
Alexandra “Sasha” Hoffman got into tennis later than most who pick up the sport. The junior at Greensburg Central Catholic only began playing tennis four years ago, while many of her opponents picked up a racquet in elementary school. But one can hardly tell she’s a relative beginner because of...
Westmoreland County Senior Spotlight: Norwin’s Rick Zappone
While a loss isn’t exactly the way any team wants to end the year, losing to the eventual champion always helps shake that bad feeling off a little. This was the case for Norwin’s boys soccer team, which fell to Pine-Richland in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs last season. Center...
A-K Valley Senior Spotlight: Kiski Area’s Liam Foley
Change can be a disruptive force. For the Kiski Area boys soccer team, a coaching change leading into the season has been met with a determination to sustain the status quo. New coach Ben Fiore comes in from Ambridge and was a Kiski Area soccer player from 2011-15. When he...
Leaders hang on to top spots in latest coaches association WPIAL girls volleyball rankings
North Allegheny, Hampton, Freeport and Bishop Canevin each held on to their No. 1 rankings in the latest Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association WPIAL girls top-10 polls released Monday morning. There was a shakeup near the top in Class A as Frazier moved up to No. 2 from its No....
What to watch for in WPIAL sports for Sept. 18, 2023: Girls soccer South Hills showdown on tap
There are only 11 WPIAL girls soccer teams that have yet to lose a match this season, and two of them go head-to-head Monday. First place in Section 2-4A will be up for grabs when Upper St. Clair visits Peters Township. Just over a decade ago, these programs won WPIAL...
Trib HSSN football player of the week for 2023 Week 3
Throwing for more than 200 yards in a high school game is solid. Rushing for more than 200 yards in a game is a very good night at the office. To accomplish both in one game is rare air. It is safe to say Trinity sophomore quarterback Jonah Williamson had...
Latrobe’s Alex Tatsch earns scholarship offer from West Virginia
Alex Tatsch spent a perfect late-summer day in Morgantown. He looked around a college campus, watched the Backyard Brawl and came home with a souvenir: a scholarship offer. West Virginia extended an offer to the Latrobe junior football standout Saturday, stamping his potential as a Power 5 prospect. After an...
High school sports schedule for Sept. 18, 2023
High schools WPIAL Field hockey Monday’s schedule Section 3A Mt. Lebanon at Pine-Richland, 7:30 p.m. North Allegheny at Allderdice, 3:15 p.m. Peters Township at Norwin, 7 p.m. Nonsection Fox Chapel at Hempfield, 6 p.m. Soccer Boys Monday’s schedule Class 3A Section 1 Hampton at North Catholic, 6:30 p.m. Section 4...
Trib HSSN girls, boys soccer rankings: Week ending Sept. 17, 2023
WPIAL soccer rankings Girls Class 4A 1. North Allegheny (8-0) 1 2. Peters Township (6-0-1) 2 3. Upper St. Clair (7-0) 3 4. Seneca Valley (7-0) 5 5. Mt. Lebanon (5-3) 4 Out: None Class 3A 1. Mars (6-0) 2 2. Moon (6-1-1) 1 3. Plum (4-0-1) 3 4. Latrobe...
Southmoreland volleyball enjoying great season under coaching of Kurtz
Tom Kurtz was working at a volleyball match last year when he noticed how well the Southmoreland girls were playing. He asked then-Southmoreland athletic director Dan Boring who was coaching the team. The answer was Boring and his wife, Amber, on an interim bases. Bored with officiating, Kurtz applied for...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Znavor takes over Yough girls basketball team
Brian Znavor is the new girls basketball coach at Yough. A Norwin graduate, Znavor was the Yough boys basketball coach in the early 2000s, taking over that position when he was 23. He coached the Cougars’ all-time scoring leader, Ben McCauley, who went on to play at N.C. State and...
This week on Trib HSSN for week of Sept. 18, 2023
One of the best weeks of WPIAL football in the regular season takes place this weekend on the TribLive High School Sports Network. Trib HSSN has video coverage of Week 4 with six WPIAL football games Friday, including No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdowns in both Class 6A and 5A,...
Gateway girls soccer finding offensive rhythm in early going
Gateway girls soccer coach Caleb Kyper said his players were a little shell-shocked after a 6-0 loss to Plum, a 2022 WPIAL semifinalist and PIAA qualifier, in the season and Section 3-3A opener Aug. 28. The Gators had a quick turnaround against Penn Hills just two days later, and Kyper...
Gateway boys soccer players learning from early-season tests
The Gateway boys soccer team has been up and down and everywhere in between so far in Section 4-3A play. They took care of business against Penn Hills and McKeesport, suffered tough losses to section powers Franklin Regional and Plum, and forged a key tie against a Penn-Trafford team they...
New Quaker Valley hall of famer Justin Shegog raised basketball program’s profile
Justin Shegog was a mover and a shaker in the gym as well as for the entire Quaker Valley boys basketball program. Athletic director Mike Mastroianni, who doubles as the coach for the QV boys hoops team, coached Shegog from 1996-2000. Mastroianni said Shegog laid the foundation for success for...
Senior standouts set tone for Quaker Valley soccer
Two of the stars on last year’s boys soccer team at Quaker Valley are back for their senior season. Defensive specialist Nick Allan, the reigning player of the year in Section 4-2A, and midfielder Matteo Castellini were named section all-stars in 2022. The 5-foot-9 Allan is third-year starter, second-year captain...
Penn Hills runners making strides under returning coach
Being a longtime member of the cross country community made putting a schedule together late not too bad for Penn Hills coach Lee Zelkowitz. Zelkowitz, who planned to step down after last season, came back to the job after Ryan Donnelly had to step down for personal reasons in early...
With AD stepping in as coach, Penn Hills volleyball looking to learn
Stephanie Strauss doesn’t want coaching the Penn Hills girls volleyball program to be a long-term gig. But Strauss has enjoyed being back on the sidelines. Strauss, who is Penn Hills’ athletic director, took the job because no qualified candidates lined up to take over for long-time coach Jay Mitlo after...
Freshman’s smashing debut sparks Pine-Richland tennis team
The Pine-Richland girls tennis team is in position for a 22nd consecutive playoff berth, and there’s a freshman that’s leading the charge. Caroline Prisk has been the Rams’ top singles player and is showing plenty of potential in her first varsity season. She’s helped Pine-Richland start 7-1 on the season...
Pine-Richland senior recovers from injury, rekindles passion for field hockey
Most athletes love the sport they play, but Khushi Saini’s connection with field hockey is special. It became her outlet to flourish after moving to the Pine-Richland school district from India in seventh grade. Last year, though, that outlet was temporarily taken away. Saini suffered a torn ACL in her...
High-scoring Riverview girls soccer ready for rivalry matchup with No. 1 Springdale
The Riverview girls soccer team couldn’t ask for a bigger opportunity Thursday evening under the lights at Riverside Park. The Raiders, who have jumped out to a 4-1 record in Section 1-A play, will face rival Springdale, the No. 1 team in the Trib HSSN Class A rankings and last...
Despite heavy graduation losses, Plum girls soccer off to strong start in section play
With new starters all over the field and other younger players getting their first taste of varsity experience, Plum girls soccer coach Jamie Stewart said he likes what he has seen out of his players in the early going as they hope to build off a strong start both in...
Plum golfers going low in section competition
The Plum boys golf team qualified for the WPIAL Class 3A team playoffs last season for the first time since 2013. The Mustangs made an impact in the first round and advanced to the finals. Several of the players from that team returned with a repeat performance in mind, and...
