Bill Beckner stories, Page 171
Southmoreland girls soccer uses second-half surge to roll past Mt. Pleasant
Sitting on a precarious one-goal lead, Mt. Pleasant kept giving visiting Southmoreland chances early in the second half. That is about the last thing a team wants to do against the upstart Scotties. Sophomore forward Olivia Cernuto had a hat trick and an assist, and junior midfielder Taylor Klingensmith added...
Westmoreland County girls soccer notes: Yough ‘won’t be an easy out’ in playoffs
Yough knows what it feels like to be a favorite in girls soccer. Last year, the Cougars had one of the WPIAL’s most high-powered offenses and rode it to their first district championship game appearance — and a PIAA playoff berth. But this season, Yough isn’t as prominent in the...
Norwin, Franklin Regional among fresh faces at WPIAL team golf championships
Norwin switched home courses for boys golf about five years ago. Nothing against Irwin Country Club, the Knights just wanted a layout more comparable to the ones where their section foes play. So they moved to Youghiogheny Country Club near McKeesport. It was a few more miles down the highway...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: WCCC women’s cross country wins again
This is starting to get repetitious. But the Westmoreland County Community College women’s cross country team wouldn’t have it any other way. The Wolfpack made it four wins in four races this fall as they captured the Lynx Invitational, hosted by Carroll Community College, in Westminster, Md. WCCC took the...
Greensburg Central Catholic girls soccer builds unity
Olivia Kruger did not see a need to change much stylistically when she took over the Greensburg Central Catholic girls soccer team. This ensemble knows how to win. Kruger knew she had an abundance of talent and just wanted to make sure the team had chemistry, along with the proper...
Saint Vincent connection in Florida as Kayla Slovenec joins DP Harris’ staff at St. Thomas
Women coaching and officiating among men is becoming more common at all levels of basketball, from high school to the pros. A local woman is following that trend. Former Saint Vincent and Fox Chapel basketball standout Kayla Slovenec has been named a graduate assistant coach at St. Thomas University in...
Hempfield, Derry football games called off after positive covid tests
Three more WPIAL football games were canceled because of covid-19 cases. Hempfield was supposed to play at Central Catholic, Derry was set to host East Allegheny and Apollo-Ridge planned to play at Serra Catholic, but those games will not happen Friday night. Hempfield will close through Friday after three students...
Trib HSSN WPIAL boys and girls soccer rankings for Oct. 12, 2020
Here’s a look at this week’s Trib HSSN WPIAL boys and girls soccer rankings. Records are through Saturday’s games. Girls soccer Class 4A Team, record, previous 1. Fox Chapel, 10-1, 1 2. Butler, 8-1, 2 3. Peters Township, 5-1, 3 4. Norwin, 6-2-1, NR 5. North Allegheny, 7-2, 4 Out:...
Westmoreland H.S. notebook: Norwin golf shooting for spot in championship
The WPIAL boys golf postseason shifts to team competition starting Monday with semifinal tournaments. The Class AAA tournament has a fresh name: Norwin. The Knights have not been to the playoffs in at least 23 years but returned behind a talented lineup that includes top scorers Logan Divald, Sal Cerilli,...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: Cancellation upends Penn-Trafford’s routine
Asked for his initial thoughts on the cancellation of Sunday night’s game at Gateway, Penn-Trafford coach John Ruane answered succinctly. “Depressing.” The Class 5A Big East heavyweights initially had their matchup postponed because Gateway had to cease operations after an athlete tested positive for the coronavirus. With Gateway returning from...
Norwin volleyball eyes extension of strange covid-19 season
Norwin senior volleyball player Brooke Gast still is adjusting to covid-19 times, where few fans, if any, are permitted in gymnasiums, and rally points hit gym floors with a pronounced echo. Substitutes wait in outside hallways until they are called into matches. There are masks, temperature checks and daily covid...
Norwin notebook: Football team puts seven-game skid in rearview mirror
A seven-game losing streak is no more for the Norwin football team. The Knights took care of No. 5-ranked Baldwin, 28-12, in Week 4 as senior Nick Fleming completed 10 of 16 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran for a score. Senior Connor Chrisman had five...
Franklin Regional’s ‘Super’ Mario Sarnic happy to be back on field
As Mario Sarnic lay motionless on the cold turf at Franklin Regional’s Panther Stadium, sound sucked from the complex, lights twinkling from a waiting ambulance, time stood still for the wide receiver and defensive back. “I looked up and saw my friends and the look on their faces wasn’t good,”...
Southmoreland defense swarms Yough in shutoutVideo
Southmoreland turned a potential shootout into a shutout. The Scotties showed up in a big way defensively, forcing four turnovers and putting together a balanced offensive gameplan on the way to handling Yough, 24-0, in a Class 3A Interstate Conference game Friday night at Cougar Mountain Stadium in Herminie. Senior...
Covid cases force Penn-Trafford to cancel game with Gateway
It doesn’t seem like Penn-Trafford and Gateway are meant to play football against each other this season. Their Class 5A Big East Conference first-place showdown, which was rescheduled to be played Sunday night in Monroeville, has been canceled because Penn-Trafford has shut down over covid-19 cases. The game will not...
Mt. Lebanon’s Lindsey Powanda conquers Oakmont, wins school’s first WPIAL girls golf titleVideo
Her notebook was chock-full of scribbles and arrows, subtle reminders and dos and don’ts of how to play Oakmont Country Club. Lindsey Powanda came prepared, but even the best players in the world, no matter how much they’ve analyzed the course, can be humbled at the fabled venue, which welcomed...
No immediate plans for Norwin to suspend sports amid covid-19 shutdown
Norwin is shutting down five schools, including its high school, after seven confirmed cases of covid-19 in the district. But there are no plans to suspend high school athletics. Several Norwin teams played Wednesday, including the girls soccer team, after the district’s announcement that five new cases were traced to...
Westmoreland County football notes: Franklin Regional sneaking up on Class 5A foes
Is that Franklin Regional hiding in the tall grass of the Class 5A Big East Conference? The Panthers are the team nobody is talking about yet as they quietly sit 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the Big East Conference. Their only loss is to No. 2 Gateway, but they have...
Greensburg Central Catholic boys soccer playing like ‘legitimate’ contender
One mark of a title-contending team is how it responds to playing from behind. How it deals with adversity. Defending WPIAL Class A boys soccer champion Greensburg Central Catholic started the week ranked No. 1 again and looks primed for a repeat championship. And while the Centurions are used to...
Westmoreland boys soccer notebook: Unbeaten Belle Vernon gets record-setting performances
Belle Vernon’s weekend shutout of rival Ringgold allowed a couple of players to move up in the Belle Vernon record book. Class 3A No. 4 Belle Vernon (10-0) remained undefeated with a 3-0 win Saturday over the Rams. In the process, junior forward Daniel Sassak scored the 50th goal of...
Daryn Freedman named basketball coach at Penn State Greater Allegheny
Daryn Freedman is a well-traveled man. In 25-plus years, basketball has given him a tour of the eastern part of the country and provided coaching opportunities at several levels. But with his family here, Western Pennsylvania has become his landing spot for jobs. His latest one will be in the...
Westmoreland high school girls soccer notebook: Daughter gets best of dad in showdown
Izzy Laurita felt a strange type of nervousness last week when Belle Vernon took the field against visiting Hempfield. Normal game jitters were present, but things just felt a little different when Laurita looked across the field and saw … her father … on the opposing sideline. Roland Laurita is...
Franklin Regional girls soccer thriving under 1st-year coach’s new system
Sitting atop Section 1-AAA with a half-game lead as this late-starting girls’ soccer season nears its halfway point pleases Franklin Regional. The Panthers didn’t expect to be in this position. It has happened organically, a byproduct of a commitment to a new coach and his new style of play. But...
WPIAL Class AAA girls golf championship preview: Players face tough test at Oakmont Country Club
WPIAL Class AAA girls golf individual championship 10 a.m. Thursday, Oakmont Country Club, Plum 2019 champion: Isabella Walter, North Allegheny The field: 35 players will compete over 18 holes for the district championship. The player breakdown by county is: Allegheny (17), Butler (5), Westmoreland (4), Washington (4), Fayette (3), Beaver...
Soccer community remembers ‘Moe’ Rosensteel
They will always remember “Moe.” The WPIAL and local soccer community took time Tuesday to again honor the late Kaitlyn “Moe” Rosensteel, a former Ringgold and travel soccer standout and West Virginia Wesleyan recruit who was killed by a lightning strike — along with Greensburg Central Catholic baseball player Brendan...
