November 2, 2019 4:01 am
Luke Gladden scored from 22 yards out with just 62 seconds left in regulation, then set up Joey Fonagy for a championship-winning header in overtime as Canon-McMillan rallied past Mt. Lebanon, 3-2, to win the WPIAL Boys Class 4A Soccer title. It’s the Big Macs second WPIAL soccer crown in the past five years. CM needed two late goals in the semifinals against Plum to reach Thursday’s championship match. Mt. Lebanon swept the regular season series against Canon-McMillan by scores of 3-1 and 4-3. Both teams had already qualified for the PIAA tournament which opens Tuesday. Canon-McMillan will face the District 3 fourth-place finisher somewhere in the WPIAL. Mt. Lebanon will travel to take on either the District 6 champion or the District 10 champion.
CLICK for PIAA 4A Boys Soccer Brackets
PIAA Boys Soccer 4A First Round, Tuesday, Nov. 5, site/time to be determined
Canon-McMillan vs. District 3 fourth-place
Fort Cherry blanked previously-unbeaten #3 Shenango in three sets to advance to Saturday’s WPIAL Volleyball Championships. The Rangers won by scores of 25-20, 25-18, 25-22) to earn the trip to Fox Chapel to take on top-seeded Bishop Canevin. The Crusaders beat Geibel Catholic, 3-1.
Canon-McMillan will face top-seeded North Allegheny in the Class 4A championship match, also at Fox Chapel.
Click for Girls WPIAL Volleyball Brackets
WPIAL Volleyball Championships, Saturday, Nov. 2 at Fox Chapel
1A #2 Fort Cherry vs. #1 Bishop Canevin, 12 noon
4A #3 Canon-McMillan vs. #1 North Allegheny, 6 pm
October 30, 2019 3:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Sidney Crosby and Dominik Simon scored during an early four-goal outburst, and the Pittsburgh Penguins drilled the Philadelphia Flyers 7-1 on Tuesday night. Crosby, wearing a facemask as extra protection after getting hit in the head by a shot over the weekend, added two assists to boost his career point total against the Flyers to 102 as the Penguins rolled to a rare lopsided victory over their cross-state rivals. Jared McCann, Justin Schultz, Zach Aston-Reese, Jake Guentzel and Dominik Kahun also scored for Pittsburgh. Matt Murray stopped 29 shots to win for the sixth time in his last seven starts. Oskar Lindblom got his sixth goal for the Flyers, but Philadelphia was simply overwhelmed by the Penguins during a first-period onslaught in which Pittsburgh beat Brian Elliott four times in just more than six minutes. Elliott, given the start two days after Carter Hart was pulled in a loss to the New York Islanders, stuck around to finish with 30 saves but the Flyers were never in it over the final two periods. Schultz’s first goal of the season came on an innocent flick from above the right circle 5:57 into the game on a shot that fluttered over Elliott’s right shoulder. While Rust and Kahun occupied three Philadelphia defenders at the side of the net just more than two minutes later, McCann skated into the slot and flipped the puck past Elliott to double Pittsburgh’s lead. The din from McCann’s goal had barely died down when Crosby’s drop pass to Simon gave him plenty of room to beat Elliott and give the Penguins their third goal in a span of 2:49. Crosby’s assist gave him 100 points in 68 career games against the Flyers. By the end of the period, he pushed the total to 101 thanks to a pretty cross-ice pass from Simon that Crosby turned into his fifth of the season and 42nd all-time against Philadelphia. The score also capped Pittsburgh’s first four-goal first period since Dec. 17, 2011, against Buffalo. Murray, given little to do while his teammates pounded Elliott early, made sure the cushion stood up. Only Lindblom’s goal 1:57 into the third prevented Murray from posting a second straight shutout.
October 30, 2019 3:44 am
HOUSTON (AP) – It remains road-sweet-road in the World Series after the Washington Nationals forced a Game 7 against the Astros in Houston. Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasburg carried the Nationals to a 7-2 win over the Astros to stretch the Fall Classic to the limit. Rendon went 3-for-5 with five RBIs to back Strasburg, who limited Houston to a pair of runs and seven hits while striking out seven over 8 1/3 innings. The Nationals made it six straight wins by the road team in the series. Rendon opened the scoring with an RBI single in the top of the first, but Alex Bregman’s solo blast put the Astros ahead, 2-1 later in the inning. Adam Eaton and Juan Soto belted solo shots in the fifth to put the Nationals ahead to stay before Rendon padded the lead with a two-run homer in the seventh and a two-run double in the ninth. That was more than enough support for Strasburg, who improved to 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA in this postseason. Justin Verlander’s World Series struggles continued after he carried a 2-1 lead into the top of the fifth. The home runs by Eaton and Soto left him 0-6 with a 5.68 ERA in seven career World Series starts. Game 7 is Wednesday night in Houston. Max Scherzer has been given the green light to start for the Nationals after receiving a cortisone shot in his neck to alleviate an irritated nerve. Scherzer was scratched from Game 5, but manager Dave Martinez deemed him fit to start after Scherzer threw to a catcher in the outfield on Tuesday. Zack Greinke is scheduled to pitch for the Astros, who have been outscored 24-9 at home in the series.
October 29, 2019 3:29 am
When the WPIAL football playoffs open this weekend, seven Washington County schools will take the field. The pairings for this year’s tournaments were announced Monday night by the League. Class 6A Canon-McMillan opens Friday night at North Allegheny. The brackets include home games for 5A Peters Township, 2A Burgettstown, McGuffey and Washington, and 1A West Greene. The other two area schools, 2A Charleroi and 1A California, will open on the road. The formats for the six classes are the same as last year. Classes 6A, 4A, 3A and 1A will play three rounds including championship games scheduled for Heinz Field, Saturday, Nov. 16. Class 6A starts with six teams, the others have eight. In Class 5A and 2A, both starting with 16 teams, there will be four rounds ending with the WPIAL Finals at Norwin High School Nov. 23. CLICK HERE for WPIAL Football Brackets Here’s the Friday night schedule for area teams, all with 7 pm kickoffs:
Class 6A quarterfinals #6 Canon-McMillan at #3 North Allegheny
Class 5A First Round #12 Mars Area at #5 Peters Township
Class 2A First Round #16 Shady Side Academy at #1 Washington (WJPA-AM, 1450)
Class 2A First Round #14 Riverside at #3 Burgettstown (WJPA-FM, 95.3)
Class 2A First Round #11 South Side Beaver at #6 McGuffey
Class 2A First Round #9 Charleroi at #8 Freedom Area
Class 1A Quarterfinals #5 California vs. #4 Cornell AT West Allegheny HS
Class 1A Quarterfinals #7 Greensburg Central Catholic at #2 West Greene
October 29, 2019 3:07 am
Bentworth scored first but Shady Side Academy got a hat-trick from Callie Davis as the Indians beat the Bearcats, 5-1, in the WPIAL Class 1A Girls Soccer semifinals. Jocelyn Timlin put Bentworth up, 1-0, in the 14th minute. Davis tied the game four minutes later before Melissa Riggins netted the first of her two goals, putting Shady Side in front to stay. Shady Side dominated play in the second half to win a 14th straight game and earn a third meeting with Section 1 foe Greensburg Central Catholic. Bentworth will face Freedom on Wednesday in the WPIAL third-place consolation with the winner advancing to the PIAA tournament. Freedom downed Bentworth in last year’s WPIAL finals.
North Allegheny outscored Peters Township, 4-2, in penalty kicks following two overtimes as the Tigers eliminated the Indians, 2-1. Only the WPIAL finalists qualify for the PIAA tournament in Class 4A.
CLICK for Girls WPIAL Soccer Brackets
Girls soccer PIAA qualifier, Wednesday, Oct. 30
1A #2 Bentworth vs. #1 Freedom, 6 pm at Peters Township
Canon-McMillan scored twice in the final seven minutes to beat Plum, 3-2, handing the Mustangs their first loss of the season. The Big Macs advance to the WPIAL Class 4A title match against Section 1 foe Mt. Lebanon. The Blue Devils swept the regular season series against Canon-McMillan, 3-1 and 4-3. The WPIAL Soccer Championships are Thursday-Saturday at Highmark Stadium.
CLICK for Boys WPIAL Soccer Brackets
Boys Soccer Finals, Thursday, Oct. 31, 8 pm
4A #4 Canon-McMillan vs. #2 Mt. Lebanon at Highmark Stadium.
Canon-McMillan volleyball rolled to a 3-0 win over #6 Shaler Monday night. The Big Macs will face either Pine-Richland or Oakland Cathoilc in Wednesday’s semifinals.
Click for Girls WPIAL Volleyball Brackets
Semifinals, Wednesday, Oct. 30
4A #3 Canon-McMillan vs. #2 Pine-Richland, 6 pm at North Hills
Two more Washington/Greene County volleyball teams head to the quarterfinals Tuesday: Fort Cherry and Carmichaels.
Quarterfinals, Tuesday, Oct. 29
1A #4 Carmichaels vs. #5 Geibel, 6 pm at Norwin
1A #2 Fort Cherry vs. #7 Vincentian Academy, 6 pm at Peters Township
October 28, 2019 10:35 am
The Pirates have completed their housecleaning. The team has announced that Executive Vice President and General Manager, Neal Huntington, has been relieved of his duties. In a statement released Monday morning, Chairman of the Board Bob Nutting said “I greatly appreciate Neal’s dedication to the Pirates organization and our city over the past 12 seasons. The decisions that have been made over the past month were not easy and have been the result of a systematic and thorough review, and further reinforced through multiple conversations with people that I trust and respect throughout baseball.” At the same time, the team has officially announced that Travis Williams has been named President of the organization. The former member of the Penguins executive team will officially begin his duties on November 1 and will oversee the day-to-day operations of the organization. That will include the search for both a new General Manager and Manager.
October 27, 2019 7:54 am
Wash High dominated McGuffey to win a sixth straight conference title. The Little Prexies are likely to be Class 2A’s top seed. Peters Township blanked Baldwin to share the Allegheny Eight championship. Canon-McMillan jumped in front early and cruised to a tune-up win over Butler. The Big Macs will play at North Allegheny in next Friday’s Class 6A opening round. Burgettstown completed an unbeaten regular season and a likely top 3 seed with a 10-point win at South Allegheny. California crushed Mapletown but couldn’t earn a home game in the playoffs. Charleroi and West Greene both scored non-conference wins ahead of their playoff openers next weekend. The Cougars will be on the road while the Pioneers will hosts next week.
For non-playoff teams, it’s the end of the road. Trinity beat Laurel Highlands, Carmichaels won at Brownsville, Jeff-Morgan won a shootout at Bentworth and Chartiers-Houston topped Riverview. Ringgold, Waynesburg, Beth-Center and Fort Cherry lost on the final night of the regular season.
October 25, 2019 3:50 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Kirk Cousins was able to get a victory against the team that let him go in the summer of 2018. Cousins was 23 of 26 for 285 yards without a turnover as the Minnesota Vikings knocked off Washington, 19-9 to improve to 6-2. Cousins did some of his best work getting the ball to Dalvin Cook, who had 171 total yards and the game’s lone touchdown. Cook rushed 23 times for 98 yards and caught five passes for 73 yards in the Vikings’ fourth straight win. Quarterback Case Keenum had his return to Minnesota spoiled by a concussion that kept him out of the second half. Keenum also lost a fumble on a first-quarter sack. Rookie Dwayne Haskins threw an interception deep in Minnesota territory when Washington trailed by only seven points.
October 25, 2019 3:42 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers are taking nothing for granted heading into a visit by the winless Miami Dolphins. Miami is off to a 0-6 start but has shown progress in recent weeks. The Dolphins led in the fourth quarter last week against Buffalo before falling late. The Steelers are 2-4 coming off their bye week and will have Mason Rudolph back under center. Rudolph hasn’t played since being knocked unconscious against Baltimore on Oct. 6.
October 24, 2019 8:00 am
Canon-McMillan boys, Bentworth and Peters Township girls have all advanced to the WPIAL soccer semifinals. Following are scores/schedules for area teams and WPIAL bracket links. The WPIAL Soccer Championships are scheduled for Highmark Stadium, Oct. 31-Nov. 2.
CLICK for Girls WPIAL Soccer Brackets
Girls Quarterfinals, Thursday, Oct. 24
1A Bentworth 3, Serra Catholic 1
4A Peters Township 5, Butler 0
CLICK for Boys WPIAL Soccer Brackets
Boys Semifinals, Saturday, Oct. 26
4A #4 Canon-McMillan vs. #1 Plum, 2 pm at Mars Area
Girls Semifinals, Monday, Oct. 28 (sites/times to be determined)
1A #2 Bentworth vs. #3 Shady Side Academy
4A #2 Peters Township vs. #3 North Allegheny
