Girls Volleyball
9/26
The Girls Volleyball team took a 3-1 loss on Tuesday against Hempfield.
9/29
Girls Volleyball took home a 3-1 victory over Fox Chapel on their Senior Night. The Titans dropped the 1st set but would respond by winning the next three sets by the scores of 25-17, 25-18, and 25-16. In the match, the Titans were led by Quinn with 21 kills, Engel and O’Brien with 2 blocks, and Miller with 51 assists.
Girls Soccer
9/25
The Girls Soccer team took a section loss to North Allegheny by a score of 3-0. A controversial PK was awarded to North Allegheny in the first half to give them a 1-0 lead going into halftime. The Titans played stout defense throughout, but they could not convert on the few chances they had to try to pull off the upset. Attempting to push for a late goal, Tylenda nearly scored, but Shaler conceded twice more with under five minutes left in the game.
9/27
The Titans took revenge over the Allderdice Dragons with a dominating 4-0 victory. Lexi Tylenda opened up the scoring, assisted by Piper Keane. Later, Tylenda stole the ball from an Allderdice defender to get her second goal. Then, she crossed the ball to Keane, who scored three minutes before the end of the half to make the score 3-0. In the second half, Melina Polziani shot a ball off of the post and Addy Paladin put it away to reach the final score.
Boys Golf
9/25
The Boys Golf Team continued their individual run in the 1st round of WPIAL Playoffs. In the round, golfers had to be within the top 36 scores to advance to the WPIAL Individual Finals. At the end of the day, the Titans had three of their six golfers qualify in the top 36. Junior Jacob Crissman finished in 6th place while Juniors Colby Weber and Jake Skerlong finished in 20th place. Crissman, Weber, and Skerlong will compete in the WPIAL Individual finals Monday, October 12, where the top 14 individuals of the 36 that qualified will go on to compete in the PIAA State Individual Tournament.
The Titans will turn back to team mode in two weeks where they will compete in the WPIAL Team Semifinals where they will be looking for their first WPIAL title in school history.
Boys Soccer
9/26
The boys soccer team lost a thrilling match to Central Catholic 1-0. The back line held strong throughout the game, but surrendering a PK was enough for the Vikings to win. The Titans, missing their top striker, were unable to put one in the back of the net, coming inches close to scoring multiple times.
9/28
The Titans salvaged a draw against North Hills 1-1. The Indians opened the scoring in the second half with a header. It took Shaler Area until the 79th minute to score. Sophomore Anthony Tylenda drew the PK and Matt Keenan capitalized to tie the game and send it into overtime. In OT, there were several great chances created by both teams, but neither team was able to score.
Football
9/30
Shaler Area’s homecoming was a great day for the community. The seniors won the float building competition with their float based on Minecraft. However, the success of the day did not quite translate to the football field as the Titans lost to the Woodland Hills Wolverines 56-14. It was a back and forth start between the two offenses. Woodland Hills scored on their opening drive before Smetanka responded with a touchdown pass to Brandon London to tie the game at 7. Then, following another Wolverines touchdown, Rozzo punched it in the endzone to give Shaler a 14-13 lead thanks to a failed Woodland Hills PAT. Alas, that would be the first and only lead for the Titans on the day. The defense could not find a way to stop the Wolverines from scoring as they put up 29 unanswered points in the first quarter alone, helped by various Titan turnovers. Shaler had the ball in the redzone late in the half, but an untimely interception erased any hope of a Titan score. Shaler Area finished the day committing seven turnovers (four interceptions and three fumbles). The Titans stay home for another week, hoping to change things around against North Hills with their backs against the wall to celebrate Hall of Fame night.
Final Stats:
Smetanka: 14/26 for 156 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, 10 carries for 77 yards
Desabato: 4 catches for 89 yards
London: 1 receiving touchdown
Rozzo: 1 rushing touchdown
