Bill Beckner stories, Page 137
Controversial OT goal gives Norwin boys soccer win over rival Penn-Trafford
You couldn’t tell who was more stunned at first, Norwin or Penn-Trafford. But you could tell who was more upset. Senior Caleb Yuricha scored a controversial goal with 36 seconds left in the first overtime to lift No. 3 Norwin to a sudden 1-0 win over rival Penn-Trafford on Wednesday...
Westmoreland County girls soccer notes: Franklin Regional in top form
Staying healthy is a key to any successful sports team. As an extension of that, conditioning and staying in game-shape can be what separates the contenders. But the way a team plays also can dictate its overall well-being. Take Franklin Regional girls soccer. “This is always our first priority,” coach...
Westmoreland County boys soccer notes: Belle Vernon scorer sets another record
First he took down the career record for goals. Now, Daniel Sassak has the all-time points mark, too. The senior forward continued his assault on the program record book at Belle Vernon by breaking Markello Apodiakos’ career mark for points (212) when he notched a goal and an assist in...
2021 WPIAL team golf championships preview
WPIAL team golf championships 10 a.m. Thursday, Cedarbrook Golf Course, Rostraver (Gold Course, boys; Red Course, girls) Boys breakdown Class 3A Teams: Central Catholic, Fox Chapel, Mars, Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township, Seneca Valley. Players to watch: Blake Bertolo, Jr., Mars; Aidan Burchianti, Jr., Central Catholic; Zach Dyke, Sr., Mt. Lebanon;...
Hempfield grad Kason Harrell again making impact in Ireland pro basketball league
If Kason Harrell is nothing else he’s grateful. Thoughtful. Humble. He literally stops to take inventory of his blessings, and playing basketball is always high on his list. “God is good,” said Harrell, a Hempfield and Purdue Fort Wayne grad who is back in Ireland playing professionally. Harrell, 24, has...
Southmoreland blanks Mt. Pleasant to keep section title hopes alive
Southmoreland’s offense tends to attract all the headlines, but the Scotties showed they can play some defense, too. Like, really good defense against a threatening opponent. In a must-win game to keep their hopes of back-to-back section titles alive, the second-ranked Scotties limited Mt. Pleasant’s opportunities and turned away the...
Campus clippings: UPG women’s tennis team repeats as regular-season conference champ
Regular season champions for the second straight season. That was the title bestowed on the Pitt-Greensburg women’s tennis team after an 8-1 win over Penn State Altoona capped a 6-0 run through AMCC play and improved the Bobcats to 8-2. The doubles teams of Cathryn Rossi and sophomore Isabella Lane;...
Gamal Marballie re-opens recruiting now that he is healthy
Coming out of high school, Gamal Marballie had small-college interest for football, but he seemed to disappear from the recruiting landscape. That is because he did. Marballie, a two-sport standout at Yough who also was a 1,000-point scorer in basketball, took a year off to rehab a knee injury he...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Logan Wiland carries Seton Hill to victory
Seton Hill running back Logan Wiland needed an ice bath Sunday morning. The grad student carried the football 38 times and gained 178 yards Saturday in Erie as the Griffins rallied past Mercyhurst, 19-17, for another grind-it-out victory, its first of the season in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Wiland...
‘Beach Patrol’ defense makes Belle Vernon girls soccer team hard to play against
Five years ago, Belle Vernon’s boys soccer team had a smothering defense — and confidence to match. The Leopards looked in the mirror and what they saw impressed them so much they gave their defensive unit a nickname: “Border Patrol.” This year’s girls team at Belle Vernon might need a...
Playoff-bound Yough boys soccer makes climb back to respectability
Spectators are surprised by what they’re seeing on Cougar Mountain this season: a Yough boys soccer team making a steep climb back to respectability. “I had some parents come up to me and say, ‘What Yough team is this?’ ” Cougars coach Dave Vilchek said. “We’re playing well. We’re possessing...
High school notebook: Greensburg Central Catholic girls look to extend WPIAL golf title streak
Greensburg Central Catholic is climbing the stairway to seven. The girls golf team will go for its seventh consecutive WPIAL championship Thursday at Cedarbrook Golf Course in Rostraver. The Centurions will have to beat only three teams: Central Valley, Elizabeth Forward and Mt. Pleasant. Last year, GCC won by 99...
WPIAL soccer rankings: Week of Oct. 11, 2021
Girls Class 4A Rank, Team…W-L-T…Last rank 1. North Allegheny…(11-0-1)…1 2. Latrobe…(10-0-1)…2 3. Moon…(10-1-1)…3 4. Peters Township…(8-3-3)…4 5. Butler…(10-0-2)…5 OUT: None Watch: Norwin (10-2) Class 3A 1. Mars…(10-0-1)…1 2. Plum…(13-1)…2 3. Hampton…(9-2-2)…3 4. Franklin Regional…(8-3-1)…4 5. Belle Vernon…(12-3)…NR OUT: Connellsville (11-2) 5 Watch: Oakland Catholic (8-2-1) Class 2A 1. North Catholic…(12-1)…1...
Westmoreland H.S. football notebook: P-T still savoring win over Gateway
Penn-Trafford’s Warrior Stadium was alive with goings-on Friday night. It was the hub of Harrison City as the stadium lit up a rainy community. It was homecoming, which featured the annual parade that comes with it. Nearby roads were closed for a short time for all of the bells and...
Playoff-bound Jeannette boys soccer setting new standards for program
When Art Cicero was offered the Jeannette boys soccer job in 2018, the Jayhawks were coming off a 1-16-1 season and facing another rebuild. A floundering program since its inception in 1997, Jeannette had a three-year stretch from 2007-09 when it couldn’t even field a team. Cicero, a Hempfield grad...
Norwin notebook: Football players happy to be back on field after covid shutdown
Norwin’s football players were itching to get back on the field after a covid-related forfeit Sept. 24 and some unexpected down time. The Knights may never have been so anxious. Players were on the field at Knights Stadium on Sept. 30 after the girls soccer game, and they were bursting...
Norwin girls soccer battling injuries, tough section slate
With the number of injuries and player rotations Norwin has had this season, you might expect the Knights to be struggling to stay in the playoff race. But it has been quite the contrary for the girls soccer team, which has navigated the absences and lineup changes with poise. Injuries...
Penn-Trafford answers bell, beats Gateway for 1st place in Big East Conference
Jakob Haynes saw an opening and rang Gateway’s bell. Gateway had just crossed midfield and was facing a 4th and 1 to keep a potential go-ahead drive going. But the Penn-Trafford junior linebacker knifed through the line and delivered a drive-killing tackle on running back Jaquon Reynolds with 1 minute,...
Brownsville-Mt. Pleasant football game canceled
The Brownsville at Mt. Pleasant football game scheduled for Friday night has been canceled and will be ruled a no contest by the WPIAL. Brownsville told Mt. Pleasant it does not have enough players to compete due to covid-19 concerns. No. 4-ranked Mt. Pleasant will not pursue another opponent on...
Westmoreland football notebook: Greensburg Salem girls soccer coach among WPIAL’s top refs
Jessica Melodia played for the Pittsburgh Passion women’s football team from 2015-17. When she “retired,” a void was left in her life. “I missed football,” said Melodia, the girls soccer coach at Greensburg Salem. “I started playing about 20 years too late but loved it. I didn’t have any injuries,...
Quaker Valley, South Fayette golfers claim WPIAL championships
When she was 9 years old, Marissa Malosh first picked up a golf club during a vacation in Hilton Head, S.C. A family friend and avid golfer, Rob Watterson, watched her hit balls on the beach and thought it was a good idea she keep the club in her hands...
North Allegheny’s Wrigley claims 3rd straight WPIAL girls golf title
North Allegheny senior Caroline Wrigley knew she was chasing WPIAL history. But the real goal here was to have something to tell Uncle Frank. Wrigley completed a WPIAL three-peat Wednesday, the same feat her uncle, Frank Fuhrer III, accomplished while playing at Fox Chapel from 1974-76. He went on to...
Westmoreland County girls soccer notebook: GCC goes on field trip
As Greensburg Central Catholic prepared to play No. 1 Springdale in a key rematch, practice was replaced by something more fun: a field trip. The defending WPIAL champion and state runner-up Centurions took a day to spend some time on the “Hill” last week as they watched Seton Hill host...
Westmoreland County boys soccer notebook: Eye-popping Belle Vernon goal goes viral
Throughout the soccer season, Pennylvania Soccer and Hudl.com scour the state looking for the top highlight-reel goals. When the website saw Daniel Sassak’s jaw-dropper for Belle Vernon that stunned Trinity, it took the play straight to the top. Pennsylvania Soccer named it the No. 1 goal of the week in...
Former pitcher expected to be next Hempfield softball coach
Hempfield has recommended a candidate to replace legendary softball coach Bob Kalp, who resigned in July after 25 seasons. The next coach, if approved at a voting meeting Oct. 18, will be Tina (Skelly) Madison, who was an assistant under Kalp for one season. Madison worked with pitchers because she...
