November 2, 2024 12:01 am
The WPIAL football playoffs opened Friday night for seven teams from our two-county area. Trinity stayed with Aliquippa but lost to the three-time defending WPIAL champions. Wash High was within a touchdown at the half before Steel Valley scored three times in the third quarter to take control, beating the Little Prexies for the second time this year. Fort Cherry had no trouble with #16 Brentwood. #10 California won on the road in an upset. Bentworth, Jeff-Morgan and Waynesburg fell behind early and couldn’t rally.
WPIAL Football (click for brackets): 6A 5A 4A 3A 2A 1A
Friday, Nov. 1, First Round:
4A #4 Aliquippa 34, #5 Trinity 14
2A #4 Steel Valley 49, #13 Wash High 28
2A#6 South Allegheny 53, #11 Waynesburg 14
1A #1 Fort Cherry 56, #16 Brentwood 14
1A #10 California 22, #7 Laurel 6
1A #11 South Side Area 39, #6 Jeff-Morgan 30
1A #3 Bishop Canevin 56, #14 Bentworth 3
Friday, Nov. 8, Quarterfinals (7:00 pm unless noted):
5A #6 Penn-Trafford at Peters Township
1A #1 Fort Cherry vs. #9 Cornell
1A #10 California vs. #2 Clairton
November 1, 2024 4:35 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored his second goal of the game 2:35 into overtime as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 to end a six-game losing streak. Crosby found himself in alone on Lukas Dostal and hit the brakes before roofing the puck over the Ducks’ goaltender for the 93rd game-winning goal of his career. Alex Nedeljkovic made 22 saves for Pittsburgh, which outshot Anaheim 46-23. Dostal stopped 44 shots to keep the Ducks in it, but it still wasn’t enough. Alex Killorn scored for the Ducks. Crosby tied it at 1 in the third period.
November 1, 2024 4:36 am
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Garrett Wilson made a dazzling one-handed 26-yard go-ahead touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter and the New York Jets snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Houston Texans 21-13. Aaron Rodgers had three touchdown passes, including another earlier one-handed score by Wilson and a 37-yard throw to recently acquired Davante Adams, and the Jets won for the first time in four games under interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich. It also helped make up for a Jets touchdown that wasn’t when rookie Malachi Corley made a mental mistake that negated his first NFL score. Rodgers finished 22 of 32 for 211 yards. C.J. Stroud was 11 of 30 for 191 yards for the Texans.
November 1, 2024 4:21 am
NEW YORK (AP) – After 42 seasons, Bob Costas is retiring from baseball play-by-play. Costas had done games the past couple seasons for MLB Network and TBS Sports. His final games were the American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals. Costas’ contract with TBS expired at the end of the season, but his plans to retire from baseball play-by-play had been in the works for over a year. The Athletic was the first to report on Costas’ baseball play-by-play retirement. Costas plans to address his decision at a future date.
October 31, 2024 4:27 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers won their second World Series championship in five seasons, overcoming a five-run deficit with the help of three Yankees defensive miscues and rallying on sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts in the eighth inning to beat New York 7-6 in Game 5. Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, Alex Verdugo’s RBI single chased Jack Flaherty in the second and Giancarlo Stanton’s third-inning homer against Ryan Brasier built a 5-0 lead for New York. But the Dodgers rallied, helped by a shaky defensive performance by the Yankees.
NEW YORK (AP) — When the World Series started, it was hard to figure what Freddie Freeman would be able to provide for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He left no doubt about the MVP winner. Freeman broke records by homering in the first four games and he matched a Fall Classic mark with 12 RBIs to power the Dodgers past the New York Yankees for their second championship in five years. The popular slugger delivered yet again Wednesday night with a two-run single off Yankees ace Gerrit Cole in a five-run fifth inning that helped rally Los Angeles to a clinching 7-6 victory in Game 5. When it was over, Freeman was an easy choice for the Series MVP award.
October 30, 2024 12:01 am
WPIAL Soccer (click for brackets)
BOYS 4A 3A 2A 1A
GIRLS 4A 3A 2A 1A
Defending champion Bentworth earned a return trip to the WPIAL finals with solid 3-0 win over Beaver County Christian. Adam Moessner scored just over 10 minutes into the game. His brother, Ryan, added a goal in the final minute of the half, his 43rd goal of the season, tying the school’s single season record. Dillan Colbert closed the scoring in the 52nd minute, while DJ Hays notched his 25th career shutout in goal for the Bearcats (now 18-0). The shutout is the team’s 7th straight and 14th of the year.
Monday, Oct. 28, Semifinals
Girls 4A #2 Seneca Valley > #6 Canon-McMillan, 4-1
Girls 4A #1 Peters Township > #4 North Allegheny, 2-1 OT
Tuesday, Oct. 29, Semifinals
Boys 1A #1 Bentworth > # 4 Beaver County Christian, 3-0
Boys 4A #3 Fox Chapel > #2 Peters Township, 1-0
Thursday, Oct. 31, WPIAL Championships at Highmark Stadium
Boys 1A #1 Bentworth vs. #3 Our Lady/Sacred Heart, 8:00 pm
Friday, Nov. 1, WPIAL Championships at Highmark Stadium
Girls 4A #1 Peters Township vs. #2 Seneca Valley, 6:00 pm
WPIAL Girls Volleyball (click for brackets)
4A 3A 2A 1A
After losing the first and third sets, Canon-McMillan rallied to force a fifth & deciding set. The Big Macs fell behind early, battled back within 14-13, but a service error ended the rally as Canon-McMillan lost to North Catholic, 15-13, in the final, eliminating the Big Macs. North Catholic is playing its first season in 4A and reaches the WPIAL final for the seventh straight year.
Wednesday, Oct. 30, Semifinals
4A #3 North Catholic > #2 Canon-McMillan, 3-2 (25-17, 13-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-13)
October 30, 2024 4:24 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 shots in what will likely be his final game in Pittsburgh as the Minnesota Wild beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 on Tuesday night. Frederick Gaudreau scored twice and Kirill Kaprizov added a goal and two assists. Kaprizov tied the franchise record with his sixth straight multipoint game. Mats Zuccarello and Jakub Lauko also scored for Minnesota. Rickard Rakell scored twice and Valtteri Puustinen got his first power-play goal for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby had three assists. Joel Blomqvist stopped 35 shots for Pittsburgh.
October 30, 2024 4:25 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Anthony Volpe’s third-inning grand slam overcame Freddie Freeman’s record-setting home run, and the New York Yankees avoided a World Series sweep with an 11-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers that forced a Game 5. Freeman homered for his sixth straight Series game, hitting a two-run drive in the first inning for the second consecutive night. Game 5 is Wednesday night, with the Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty meeting in a rematch of Game 1. New York is seeking to become the first team to overcome a 3-0 Series deficit.
October 30, 2024 4:26 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The World Series beat “Monday Night Football” in the battle for television viewers. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the Fall Classic averaged 13.64 million viewers on Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming according to early numbers by Nielsen. That beat the 13.4 million that tuned in for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 26-18 win over the New York Giants on ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN2 and streaming. The audience for Yankees-Dodgers peaked at 14.25 million from 9-9:15 p.m. EDT. It was the most-watched Game 3 since 2018, when the Dodgers’ 18-inning victory over the Red Sox average 13.3 million.
October 29, 2024 4:31 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Calvin Austin III returned a punt for a touchdown and hauled in a lob by Russell Wilson for another score as the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New York Giants 26-18. Austin raced across the field before sprinting down the sideline for a 73-yard touchdown in the third quarter that gave the Steelers the lead for good. He added a 29-yard over-the-shoulder grab from Wilson early in the fourth as Pittsburgh won its 22nd straight home game under the Monday night lights. Rookie Tyrone Tracy ran for a season-high 145 yards and a touchdown for New York. The Giants have lost three straight.
