Connect with us

High School

HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK presented by Adidas: PSN’s first featured game set + season kicks off Friday

Welcome to a new season of High School soccer with our second edition of High School Notebook presented by Adidas!

Believe it or not, the regular season will be here by week’s end!

Right now you can get 20% off kids merchandise at adidas.com! 

All you have to do is enter code ADIKIDS at checkout and save on everything from the new POD shoes to iconic adidas tees and sweats.

This sale is only running from Monday, 8/27 to Wednesday, 8/29, so act quickly to promote this offer and earn more commissions. 

 

PSN FEATURED HIGH SCHOOL GAME SERIES TO DEBUT SEPT 8 

We are pleased to announce that as part of a new series covering key regular season high school  games will debut with a pretty good early season non-section match-up between two Parkway West area 3A boys programs: South Fayette vs West Allegheny.

As part of the featured WPIAL game coverage, we will include on site reporter, photographer and a Facebook Live broadcast with Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC play-by-play announcer Matt Gajtka on the call.

Coverage of this match (Saturday, September 8, at 11 a.m.) will be made possible thanks to sponsors Advanced Orthopaedics and Steel Town Auto in Weirton, WV.

We will have much more in the days leading up to this debut featured game.

If you have any suggestions for featured games and/or sponsors who might want to be involved, please contact us by email pghsoccerreport@gmail.com or send a direct message us on Twitter or Facebook.

SEVEN AREA PLAYERS MAKE INAUGURAL TOPDRAWER HS ALL-AMERICA WATCH LIST

The inaugural TopDrawer Soccer High School All-America Watch List was released last week. Included in the list that had more than 500 boys and girls chosen nationally are seven WPIAL players on the list.

Among those on the list included a pair of senior boys who’ve play for Riverhounds Developmental Academy: Markello Apodiakos and Nathan Dragisich. 

Apodiakos is a senior forward at Belle Vernon who scored 37 goals last season to break coach Rob Miele’s single-season school record set over 10 years ago. Apodiakos also set a program record with 81 points. He is undecided on a college.

Dragisich, a midfielder from West Allegheny is a Duquesne recruit.

Girls players selected include Norwin defenders Eva Frankovic, a junior, and Maddie Genicola, a senior; Shady Side Academy senior midfielder Krystyna Rytel; and Peters Township junior Hannah Stuck and senior Regan LaVigna.

Frankovic is a Pitt recruit while Genicola plans to play at Duquesne.

Rytel also committed to Pitt, while Stuck is headed to Bucknell and LaVigna to Youngstown State.

REGULAR SEASON KICKS OFF THIS COMING WEEKEND

The first weekend of regular season action usually includes a number of preseason tournaments/invitationals. Some of these games will feature some match-ups between WPIAL teams and teams outside of our immediate region.

Here are some games/tournaments of note:

  • South Hills Kickoff Classic featuring some top girls programs that will get to play a on a soccer specific field (Century Field in South Park) including teams from District 10 (McDowell and Mercyhurst)

  • Defending boys 2A PIAA champion Quaker Valley takes part in the East-West Classic again this year, as they’ll be traveling to face Wilson (West Lawn) at Fleetwood.
  • Upper St. Clair boys will travel out of state, to take on Dublin Coffman, in Ohio on Saturday.
  • No longer section rivals — Fox Chapel and Plum boys will face each other in Plum’s season opening tournament on Saturday in what should be a pretty good 4A match-up.
  • Early season test for the last two boys 1A champions when North Catholic and Sewickley Academy meet in the Peters Township Tournament on Saturday.
  • There is actually one section game on the schedule this weekend — a girls 1A match as Seton LaSalle visits Ellis School on Friday.
  • Girls 4A defending WPIAL champions Penn-Trafford will face a good opening weekend challanege by playing at Fox Chapel on Saturday morning (10 a.m.)

Don’t forget to submit nominations in each week for Boys and Girls Adidas Players of the Week to pghsoccerreport@gmail.com (or submit to our social media platforms by private message) with a brief description and/or accomplishments, no later than Monday at Noon.

We’ll announce the Boys and Girls players of the week every Tuesday!

Here are all of the other regular season games to be played this Friday, Saturday & Sunday:

Boys

Friday, August 31 

Time Teams Result
Tournament: East-West Classic (at Fleetwood)
5 pm Quaker Valley vs.  Wilson (West Lawn)
Tournament: Indiana Tournament
1 pm Punxsutawney vs.  Hollidaysburg
1 pm DuBois Area vs.  Indiana
Tournament: Intersection Kickoff Tournament
7 pm Norwin vs.  Seneca Valley
5 pm Baldwin vs.  Chartiers Valley
Tournament: Peters Township Tournament
3:30 pm Sewickley Academy vs.  Peters Township
Non-Conference
3:45 pm Bishop Canevin at  Springdale
6 pm Deer Lakes at  Winchester Thurston
3:30 pm Penn Hills at  Carrick
5:15 pm Quigley Catholic at  Eden Christian
4 pm Trinity Christian at  Aquinas Academy

Saturday, September 1 

Time Teams
Tournament: Ambridge Tournament
9 am Obama Academy vs.  Knoch
3 pm Highlands vs.  Ambridge
Tournament: Avonworth Tournament
5 pm St. Joseph vs.  Our Lady of Sacred Heart
1 pm Bishop Canevin vs.  Avonworth
Tournament: Belle Vernon Tournament
8 am West Mifflin vs.  Belle Vernon
3:45 pm Connellsville vs.  McGuffey
Tournament: Canon-McMillan Tournament
3:15 pm Ringgold vs.  Central Catholic
1:30 pm Thomas Jefferson vs.  Canon-McMillan
Tournament: Carlynton Tournament
12 pm South Allegheny vs.  Hopewell
4 pm California vs.  Carlynton
Tournament: Chartiers-Houston Tournament
12 pm Waynesburg Central vs.  Steel Valley
4 pm Burrell vs.  Chartiers-Houston
Tournament: East-West Classic (at Wilson)
10:30 am Quaker Valley vs.  Fleetwood
Tournament: Fayette County Tournament (at Uniontown)
9 am Bentworth vs.  Uniontown
2:15 pm Bentworth vs.  Laurel Highlands
4 pm Beth-Center vs.  Albert Gallatin
11:30 pm Beth-Center vs.  Uniontown
10:45 am Brownsville vs.  Albert Gallatin
5:45 pm Brownsville vs.  Geibel Catholic
Tournament: Hempfield Tournament
1 pm Greensburg Salem vs.  Hempfield
Tournament: Moon Tournament
8 pm Central Valley vs.  Moon
6 pm Brashear vs.  Trinity
Tournament: Peters Township Tournament
4 pm Penn-Trafford vs.  Peters Township
2 pm North Catholic vs.  Sewickley Academy
Tournament: Plum Tournament
7 pm Fox Chapel vs.  Plum
5 pm West Allegheny vs.  Gateway
Non-Conference
5:30 pm Altoona at  Laurel Highlands
1 pm Armstrong at  Freeport
12 pm Beaver County Christian at  Eden Christian
1:30 pm Franklin Regional at  Penn-Trafford
1 pm Hampton at  North Allegheny
4 pm Mohawk at  Beaver Area
10 am Monessen at  McKeesport
1 pm Montour at  South Fayette
11 am Riverside at  Blackhawk
12 pm Seton LaSalle at  Deer Lakes
1:30 pm Shaler at  Bethel Park
12 pm Upper St. Clair at  Dublin Coffman, Ohio

Sunday, September 2 

Time Teams
Tournament: Ambridge Tournament
1 pm Highlands vs.  Obama Academy
5 pm Knoch vs.  Ambridge
Tournament: Belle Vernon Tournament
8 am McGuffey vs.  Belle Vernon
10 am Connellsville vs.  West Mifflin

Girls

Friday, August 31 

Time Teams Result
Tournament: Indiana Tournament
3 pm Ligonier Valley vs.  Indiana
3 pm DuBois Area vs.  Burrell
Tournament: South Hills Classic
4 pm Butler vs.  Mt. Lebanon
6 pm Erie McDowell vs.  Peters Township
8 pm Mercyhurst Prep vs.  South Park
WPIAL Class 1A Section 4 (1A)
3:30 pm Seton LaSalle at  Ellis School
Non-Conference
4 pm Deer Lakes at  Winchester Thurston
3:30 pm Mohawk at  Eden Christian
3:30 pm Quigley Catholic at  Carrick
3:30 pm Vincentian Academy  at  Shady Side Academy

Saturday, September 1

Time Teams Result
Tournament: Ambridge Tournament
11 am Quaker Valley vs.  Pine-Richland
1 pm Highlands vs.  Ambridge
Tournament: Avonworth Tournament
7 pm Bethel Park vs.  Thomas Jefferson
3 pm North Hills vs.  Avonworth
Tournament: Belle Vernon Tournament
11:15 am West Mifflin vs.  Belle Vernon
7 pm Connellsville vs.  North Catholic
Tournament: Carlynton Tournament
10 am Obama Academy vs.  Hopewell
2 pm Brashear vs.  Carlynton
Tournament: Chartiers-Houston Tournament
2 pm McGuffey vs.  Chartiers-Houston
10 am Steel Valley vs.  Beth-Center
Tournament: Fayette County Tournament (at Albert Gallatin)
4 pm Bentworth vs.  Ringgold
9 am Brownsville vs.  Uniontown
12:30 pm Brownsville vs.  Ringgold
2:15 pm Geibel Catholic vs.  Albert Gallatin
Tournament: Fayette County Tournament (at Laurel Highlands)
12:30 pm Bentworth vs.  Uniontown
Tournament: South Hills Classic
4 pm Mt. Lebanon vs.  State College
10:30 am Erie McDowell vs.  Butler
12:30 pm Chartiers Valley vs.  South Park
6 pm Peters Township vs.  Mercyhurst Prep
Non-Conference
2:15 pm Altoona at  Laurel Highlands
2 pm Beaver Area at  Central Valley
10 pm Blackhawk at  Riverside
10 am Franklin Regional at  Elizabeth Forward
11 am Jeannette at  Mount Pleasant
11:15 am Latrobe at  Gateway
12 pm Monessen at  McKeesport
TBA Neshannock at  Wilmington
11:30 am North Allegheny at  Hampton
10 am Penn-Trafford at  Fox Chapel
1 pm Plum at  Penn Hills
11 am Serra Catholic at  Woodland Hills
1:30 pm South Fayette at  Waynesburg Central
10 am Trinity at  Greensburg Salem
12:30 pm West Allegheny at Moon

Sunday, September 2

Time Teams Result
Tournament: Ambridge Tournament
3 pm Pine-Richland vs.  Ambridge
11 am Highlands vs.  Quaker Valley
Tournament: Belle Vernon Tournament
1:15 pm North Catholic vs.  Belle Vernon
4:30 pm Connellsville vs.  West Mifflin

John Krysinsky has covered soccer and other sports for many years for various publications and media outlets. He is also author of 'Miracle on the Mon' -- a book about the Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, which chronicles the club, particularly the early years of Highmark Stadium with the narrative leading up to and centered around a remarkable match that helped provide a spark for the franchise. John has covered sports for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, DK Pittsburgh Sports, Pittsburgh Sports Report, has served as color commentator on Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC broadcasts, and worked with OPTA Stats and broadcast teams for US Open Cup and International Champions Cup matches held in the US. Krysinsky also served as the Head Men’s Soccer Coach at his alma mater, Point Park University, where he led the Pioneers to the first-ever winning seasons and playoff berths (1996-98); head coach of North Catholic boys (2007-08), associate head coach of Shady Side Academy boys (2009-2014).

Glory on the Grass

Riverhounds MF Kenardo Forbes

Subscribe to PGH Soccer Now

Enter your email address to subscribe to PGH Soccer Now and receive notifications of new posts by email.

More in High School