Bill Beckner stories, Page 135
Girls soccer coaches announce All-WPIAL teams
The WPIAL girls soccer playoffs have surged into the semifinals with some of the district’s top players leading the way. The league’s coaches have identified many of those players with their 2021 All-WPIAL list. Here are the players who were selected (in alphabetical order by school): Fiona Mahan, Fr., MF,...
Westmoreland County soccer notes: GCC preps for WPIAL semifinal without top scorer
Greensburg Central Catholic will be a man down when it takes on Eden Christian on Tuesday night in the WPIAL Class A semifinals. A key man. How the Centurions respond to playing without senior midfielder Mason Fabean could determine if they get to play for a third straight championship. Fabean,...
Fralic Award committee close to choosing finalists
The great Bill Fralic would have been 59 on Halloween. The hulking lineman who struck fear in opponents when he played at Penn Hills, Pitt and in the NFL left an indelible legacy that lives on through an award in his name. For the third straight year, the William P....
Westmoreland campus clippings: Franklin Regional grad Palmer Jackson on Haskins Award watch list
If golf had a Heisman Trophy, this would be it. The Fred Haskins Award has been given out for 52 years to the country’s most outstanding collegiate golfer. Palmer Jackson could be the next recipient. Jackson, a junior at Notre Dame and a Franklin Regional graduate, was one of 15...
Hampton dispatches Franklin Regional boys soccer team in semis
Franklin Regional has enjoyed deep playoff runs in recent seasons, winning two WPIAL titles in three years. But during the Panthers’ recent run of success, they had only faced Hampton one other time in the boys soccer postseason. The Talbots decided it was time to steal some of the Panthers’...
Westmoreland WPIAL soccer playoff capsules for Monday, Nov. 1, 2021
Monday’s WPIAL soccer playoff games Boys Class 3A Semifinals 3-Franklin Regional (15-3) vs. 2-Hampton (17-1) 8 p.m. at Pete Antimarino Stadium, Gateway, Monroeville Winner plays: Winner of 4-Plum (17-2-1)/1-West Allegheny (20-0) in WPIAL championship at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 6 at Highmark Stadium Notes: With a frenzied comeback, Franklin Regional raced...
Westmoreland H.S. soccer notebook: Franklin Regional boys winning with offense
With 56 shutouts across the last four seasons, Franklin Regional has developed a reputation as one of the top defensive programs in WPIAL boys soccer. But with the team playing a more fast-paced, attacking style, offense has come to the forefront: Watch this team share the ball and make passes...
Early goal carries North Allegheny to 1-0 win over Norwin
A single goal and sound defense can still carry a tune in the WPIAL soccer playoffs. Always has. Sixth-seeded North Allegheny proved that Saturday afternoon when the sixth-seeded Tigers jammed up No. 3 Norwin for a 1-0 victory in a WPIAL Class 4A boys quarterfinal game at Norwin Knights Stadium....
Greensburg Central Catholic blanks Springdale but loses top scorer to red card in quarterfinals
When Greensburg Central Catholic and Springdale meet in the boys soccer playoffs, the teams see red. GCC is headed back to the WPIAL Class A boys soccer semifinals for the fourth straight year, but it came at a price after another chippy match. The top-seeded Centurions shut out No. 8...
Section title provides highlight for Franklin Regional girls volleyball
Despite coming into the season as defending WPIAL champion, the Franklin Regional volleyball team took nothing for granted. Winning the first section title in program history was a difficult task that required a season’s worth of hard work. “We have always said that no one is going to hand us...
Norwin notebook: Tiebreakers keep Knights out of football playoffs despite big win
WPIAL mathematics when it comes to tiebreakers can make your head spin and your blood pressure rise, especially if you’re a team trying to get into the football playoffs. Take Norwin. The Knights (3-6, 1-5) put together one of their best games of the season, toppling No. 5-ranked Canon-McMillan, 16-7,...
Norwin closes season with victory over Hempfield
Mathematically, Norwin is out of playoff contention. The Knights didn’t want to hear that, though, in the regular-season finale. If they were going out, they wanted to go out with a bang. Motivated to close the season with back-to-back wins — and get their fourth victory after winning three games...
Westmoreland WPIAL soccer playoff capsules for Oct. 30, 2021
WPIAL soccer playoff capsules Saturday’s games Boys Class 4A Quarterfinals 6-North Allegheny (14-5) at 3-Norwin (14-1-1) 2 p.m. at Norwin Knights Stadium, North Huntingdon Winner plays: Winner of 10-Butler (14-5)/2-Peters Township (14-1-1) on Tuesday (time, site TBD) in semifinals Notes: North Allegheny had won 9 of 10 heading into the...
14 WPIAL boys soccer players earn all-state recognition
Fourteen WPIAL players were announced Friday as Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association all-state selections. Several of them have led their teams to a win or two in the WPIAL playoffs. The picks include Franklin Regional senior Anthony DiFalco; Seneca Valley senior Nathan Prex and junior Beaux Lizewski; Butler senior Landon Mohney;...
Postseason prowess pays off as Peters Township ousts Latrobe in Class 4A quarters
A truck carrying a ladder drifted into the lane occupied by the Peters Township girls soccer bus as the team traveled to its playoff game Thursday night. The ladder clipped the side mirror of the bus and broke it off, causing the team to pull over. Duct tape and some...
Westmoreland football notebook: GCC will take on different look in WPIAL playoffs
Greensburg Central Catholic has clinched a spot in the WPIAL Class A football playoffs, but the team the Centurions roll out in the opener might be unrecognizable compared to the one fans have seen all season. That is because the Centurions have to sit five transfers, all two-way starters, for...
Gannon, Shippensburg ranked atop PSAC women’s basketball preseason poll
Defending conference champion Gannon and Shippensburg are the favorites to win titles in the Pennsylvania State Athetic Conference West and East divisions, according to preseason coaches polls. Gannon went 13-1 in a season shortened by the covid pandemic, a year after the Golden Knights finished 25-6. Gannon returns key players...
Shippensburg, IUP tabbed as favorites in PSAC men’s basketball preseason poll
After averaging 77.6 points and going 24-7 last season, including an 18-4 mark in conference, the Shippensburg men’s basketball team is expected to repeat in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division. IUP, meantime, is the favorite to win the West Division. Shippensburg brings back three starters, including grad student...
Franklin Regional rallies from 2-goal deficit, beats Kiski Area in WPIAL 3A quarterfinals
An early two-goal deficit can stun some teams in the WPIAL soccer playoffs. It seemed to inspire Franklin Regional. Let’s just say the Panthers took offense to it. The third-seeded Panthers responded in waves after an early charge from No. 6 Kiski Area, scoring five consecutive goals on the way...
Westmoreland WPIAL soccer playoff capsules for Oct. 28, 2021
Thursday’s games Girls Class 4A Quarterfinals 5-Norwin (13-4) at 4-Seneca Valley (14-3-2) 6:30 p.m., NexTier Stadium, Jackson Township Winner plays: Winner of 9-Fox Chapel (9-7-1)/1-North Allegheny (16-0-1) on Monday (time, site TBD) Notes: Norwin has overcome a number of injuries tto stay in the thick of the 4A title chase....
Westmoreland soccer notebook: GCC’s Winnor out for playoffs
If Greensburg Central Catholic makes another WPIAL title run in girls soccer, the Centurions will have to do so without senior Bethany Winnor. The senior midfielder and New Hampshire recruit is out after having surgery on her right ankle on Friday. She is expected to miss four months. “I had...
Westmoreland County don’t miss high school football matchups for 2021 Week 9
Class 6A Norwin (3-6, 1-5) at Hempfield (2-7, 0-6) 7 p.m. Friday, Spartan Stadium, Hempfield Norwin appeared to keep flickering playoff hopes alive with a 16-7-win last week over Canon-McMillan. Dom Barca ran for 124 yards and scored two touchdowns, including a school-record 95-yard run. Joey Castle kicked a 32-yard...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Seton Hill’s Wolf leads pack at PSAC cross country championships
The pack was chasing a Wolf at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference cross country championships at Kutztown. At least that was the case down the stretch. Seton Hill senior Sydney Wolf became the first woman in school history to win a PSAC final as her final 300-meter push gave her...
Mt. Pleasant girls soccer team ekes out victory over Beaver
A driving, sideways rain made it hard for the teams to concentrate on each other Tuesday night at Mt. Pleasant. Marissa Garn clearly was focused on giving her team the lead, though, and moving on in the bracket. She blocked out the wet and wind and extended her team’s season....
Eighth grader Erica Gribble gets Division I basketball offer
Irwin’s Erica Gribble won’t play varsity basketball in the WPIAL until the 2022-23 season. But the promising backcourt standout and youngest sister of Norwin’s Gribble family already has a Division I scholarship offer. Gribble, an eighth grader at Greensburg Central Catholic, was offered by St. Joseph’s, where her older sister,...
