Local Sports

Panthers, Lady Wolverines Both Looking To Advance In WPIAL Playoffs Thursday

Two local high school teams will continue their championship quests in their respective WPIAL playoff games Thursday evening. The Riverside boys soccer team marched onto the second round of the Class 1A WPIAL Playoffs with a 2-0 victory Monday night over Carlynton. The Panthers (11-2-1 overall) are set to face off against Avonworth Thursday evening at Ambridge with a 6:30 game time.  Avonworth defeated Mohawk 4-0 in their opening round contest. Alex Nour and Jesse Young, who both collected goals in the first round victory, will look again to lead the Panthers offense.  A victory Thursday would place Riverside in…


BC3 Captures 4th WPCC Volleyball Crown, Morella Selected All-Conference

On Saturday, October 20 local college BC3 swept CCBC eye regional title to gain their 4th WPCC volleyball crown in a row. Emily Magusiak and Mackenzie Craig (Monaca, PA) had eight kills each and Emilee Beck 17 digs as the Butler County Community College volleyball team on Saturday won its fourth consecutive Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference championship and 10th under Rob Snyder by sweeping the Community College of Beaver County 25-4, 25-9 and 25-18 in the best-of-5 finals. Craig added 23 assists and seven of 13 service aces for the Pioneers, who beat CCBC in the title match for the second…


Ellwood City Varsity Girls Volleyball On To WPIAL Playoffs

The Lady Wolverines squad collected a birth in the WPIAL volleyball playoffs that begin this week.  Ellwood City will face a 6-6 Beth Center team in a play-in round of the WPIAL Playoffs Tuesday evening.  The match will take place at Our Lady of Sacred Heart at 6:30pm. The Wolverines (9-3 overall) team finished second in Class 2A Section 1.  The team earned four more victories in 2018, improving from their 5-7 record last year, en route to this year’s playoff birth. “These girls have been working extremely hard since we started off-season workouts in May,” said head coach Jenna…


Riverside Boys & Girls Varsity Soccer Teams Onto Playoffs

Riverside Panthers boys and girls soccer teams have both advanced to the WPIAL Playoffs that begin this weekend. The Riverside girls team are first to play on Saturday, October 20th in an opening round contest against defending WPIAL Champion Greensburg Central Catholic.  The game will take place at 1:00pm at Hampton School District.  The winner will advance to a second round match-up versus the OLSH/Beth Center winner. Greensburg Central Catholic defeated Shady Side Academy 1-0 in the Class-A girls soccer championship last November. [VIEW THE FULL CLASS-A GIRLS BRACKET] For the boys soccer squad, their opening round match will be…


Riverside & Ellwood Boys Golf Teams Share Section Co-Championship

The Riverside and Ellwood boys golf teams both had extremely successful seasons. Their records led to the two, normal rivals, to be crowned section co-champs. For the Wolverines, the team was led by senior co-captains Broc Boariu and Alex Scott. The team also consisted of seniors Jake Peffer and Jake Alberts, junior Tyler Richards. sophomores Joey Hudson and Angelo Agostinelli, and freshmen Milo Sesti, Alexander Roth, Tyler Baker, Daniel Rogers, Zac Polojak, and Zion Bunney. “I am very proud of our accomplishments as a team. We have worked hard to compete in one of the best WPIAL Division II sections….


PHOTOS: Panthers Knock Off Wolverines In Rivalry Game

The Riverside Panthers used a 127-yard rushing performance by LeMarcus Cleckley to knock off the Ellwood City Wolverines 21-7 to capture the Rivell Cup victory. Cleckley found the end zone in the third quarter while quarterback Ben Hughes connected on two touchdown strikes, a 14-yard score to Nathan Sciarro in the first half and a 6-yard connection to Nic Ottaviani, to lead the Panthers (5-2, 3-2) offense to victory.  Ottaviani also finished with 46 yards rushing while Sciarro finished with a game-high five catches. After trailing only 7-0 at halftime, the Wolverines offense was only able to find the end zone early in…


PHOTOS: Panthers Fall To Mohawk In Homecoming Game

Congratulations to Sarina Steigerwald the 2018 Riverside Homecoming Queen who was crowned by the Crown Bearer Natalie Bologna at half time. In football action, the Riverside Panthers fell to Mohawk 34-18 Friday night in a Midwestern Conference showdown.  Both teams entered the homecoming contest vying for playoff positions. Warriors running back Braydon Cameron scored three times on the ground and defensively with an interception return of 80 yards to lead Mohawk (6-1, 5-1) to victory. Cameron led all of Lawrence County in rushing coming into the contest with 803 yards on 125 carries and added to his totals in the…


Wolverines Use Offensive Attack To Down The Wildcats

The Ellwood City Wolverines offense was on display Friday night as the running back duo of Rick Pitrelli and Donavin Chambers combined for five offensive touchdowns on the night while racking up almost 300 offensive yards as well in the Wolverines big defeat of the Wildcats 42-14. Scoring in the first quarter for the Wolverines has been at premium all season long, but on Friday night the Wolverines scored twice before the end of the first quarter, as a pass from QB Ryan Gibbons out into the flat was caught by Rick Pitrelli for the first touchdown on the night…


PHOTOS: Ellwood Falls To Freedom In Rain-Soaked Homecoming Game

After rain and thunder caused multiple game delays, Ellwood City finally fell to Freedom 35-13 in their homecoming contest Friday night at a wet Helling Stadium. Freedom senior Zack Rosa led an offensive attack that scored in each quarter of the Class-AA contest and connected with five difference receivers en route to his five touchdown performance. After the Bulldog’s first two scores of the contest, the Wolverines were finally able to counter and get on the board with a 15-play, 82-yard scoring drive in the second quarter capped with a 1-yard plunge by senior tailback Rick Pitrelli on 4th and…


Riverside Bounces Back In Victory; Wolverines Fall Short On Road

After being handed a lopsided shutout defeat last week, the Riverside Panthers were looking to rebound on their home field Friday night and prevailed in a convincing 24-0 shutout victory over Western Beaver. The Panther defense bounced back in pitching the shutout, allowing less than 150 yards of total offense. The Riverside offense was able to score early and relied on the ground game to dictate the mistake-free victory. LeMarcus Cleckley scored two first half touchdowns to lead the offense with sophomore Hunter Nulph capping the scoring with a 36-yard run in the fourth quarter. Wyatt Ray knocked in a…