Pittsburgh athletes of the week: South Park’s Nick Savage, Moon’s Delaney Snyder

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 18, 2017 | 1:30 PM

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Nick Savage

School: South Park

Class: Senior

Sport: Soccer

Claim to fame: Savage scored two goals in a 3-0 win over Keystone Oaks on Oct. 10. Class AA No. 2-seeded team is 15-2 overall and finished 12-0 in Section 1. The Eagles will host Shady Side Academy in the first round of the playoffs Saturday.

How were you able to get the two goals in the game against Keystone Oaks?

I just tried to hold the ball up top, and we had a two-striker formation. Me and Marco Maffeo play and we have combination play.

What was the key to your team's undefeated section record this year?

We have a solid back line, we have good communication and we practice hard.

What's it been like playing in the renovated Eagles Stadium that opened last week?

It's been awesome, because we usually play at Century Field, and they don't really have a scoreboard. With the new scoreboard you know how much time's left and we can just play our game.

How did you first get started in the sport?

I was maybe 3 or 4 years old and just started playing in a rec league.

What's your favorite class in school?

Probably sociology, because the teacher Mr. Huf's pretty funny.

Delaney Snyder

School: Moon

Class: Senior

Sport: Soccer

Claim to fame: Snyder scored a hat trick last week in a win over South Fayette before netting two goals against Montour. A Miami (Ohio) recruit, Snyder has 40 goals this season and also holds Moon's career goal-scoring record. Moon earned the No. 1 seed for the WPIAL playoffs after finishing the regular season 18-0 overall and 14-0 in Section 4-AAA.

What's the key to being a good goal scorer?

I think it's about having players around you, being on the same page as you. You can't do it without everyone being on board. I couldn't do it all by myself.

How does it feel to be the program's all-time goal scoring leader?

I think it's absolutely insane that it's my name up there now. It's just crazy how fast four years went. It feels like yesterday I was just a freshman, so just having my name up there means so much to me. My hard work has paid off, and I'm not even finished with my season yet. It's just a huge honor.

What will it take to repeat as WPIAL and state champions?

Like we keep saying, we can't be complacent with any of these games. Earlier in the season our coaches said that every game is going to be like a state championship game, so if we keep playing like that throughout every game we have left I think that we have the mentality to go all the way.

Do you have any pregame rituals?

I go to Dunkin' Donuts every single game and get two donuts. I get vanilla donuts with sprinkles.

What's the last movie you saw and how many stars would you rate it?

“Dunkirk.” I would say I rate it a 4.5 out of 5. It was pretty good.

Tags: Moon, South Park