Bill Beckner stories, Page 170
WPIAL soccer playoff capsules: Oct. 26
Boys Class 2A First round 11-Burrell (7-4) at 6-Mt. Pleasant (11-1) 6:30 p.m., Monday, Viking Stadium, Mt. Pleasant Winner plays: Winner of 14-Leechburg (7-6) at 3-North Catholic (12-1-1), 6 p.m., Monday, Mars Athletic Complex, Mars Hat tricks: Mt. Pleasant has allowed two goals all season and has 11 shutouts. Charleroi...
Norwin notebook: Krevokuch earns walk-on offer from Pitt
Norwin senior tight end and defensive end Tanner Krevokuch has been in contact with Pitt coach Tim Salem of late and the conversation sparked greater interest. After sending some highlights, Krevokuch (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) received a preferred walk-on opportunity with the Panthers. Central Michigan had offered him last year, but...
Norwin golfers relish 1st trip to WPIAL championship
As Sal Cerilli walked up the 18th fairway on the Gold course at Cedarbrook, he felt a sense of finality kick in. The Norwin senior, while enjoying the sights and sounds of the Knights’ maiden trip to the WPIAL Class AAA boys golf championship, knew this was the end of...
Team effort helped Franklin Regional secure 1st WPIAL golf title
A statistics teacher who doubles as the boys golf coach at Franklin Regional, Jeff Traphagen often looks at life through numbers. At the WPIAL Class AAA team golf championship, he threw around the term “standard deviation” a lot. “We were between 78 and 85; Our standard deviation was better than...
Penn-Trafford, Belle Vernon get home games for WPIAL football playoffs
When the WPIAL announced higher-seeded teams will get to play at home through the semifinals of the football playoffs, a number of coaches had reason to smile. Penn-Trafford was one of them. The WPIAL announced playoff pairings Saturday night, and Penn-Trafford (5-1, 4-0) got a home game after finishing first...
Penalty kick gives Indiana boys soccer 1st-round win over Belle Vernon
Josh Glaser said three words ran through his head as he set up for the final penalty kick. “Don’t miss it.” “If you think you’re going to miss, you’ll miss,” the Indiana senior forward said. “You have to think you’re going to make it.” The confident Glaser fired low and...
Penn-Trafford scores every which way, routs Franklin RegionalVideo
Penn-Trafford won’t be recognized as a conference champion but the Warriors sure played like one in their regular-season finale. And these Warriors showed what they can do with a full week of practice. Fourth-ranked Penn-Trafford did a little of everything, executing offensively, defensively and on special teams, on the way...
Westmoreland WPIAL soccer playoff capsules
WPIAL soccer playoffs preview Boys Class AAA First round 15-Knoch (7-8) at 2-Franklin Regional (13-2) Noon Saturday, Panthers Stadium, Murrysville Winner plays: Winner of 10-Indiana (8-4-2) at 7-Belle Vernon (14-2), 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (site TBD) in quarterfinals Hat tricks: Franklin Regional, which has won the last two WPIAL titles, has...
Monessen, football coach Shane Swope part ways after 1 season
Monessen and Shane Swope are going separate ways after a college try of a 2020 football season. The school announced Friday that it is parting company with Swope, the Greyhounds’ first-year head coach. Swope called the decision a “mutual break-up,” and said there are no hard feelings on either end....
Westmoreland County don’t miss high school football matchups for Week 7
Class 6A Norwin (1-5, 1-5) at No. 5 Canon-McMillan (2-3, 2-3) 7 p.m. Friday, Canon-McMillan Stadium, Canonsburg Despite a big performance by senior receiver Connor Chrisman, Norwin dropped its second straight conference game, 48-12, to No. 2 Mt. Lebanon. Chrisman returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score and caught...
Breaking down the 2020 WPIAL girls soccer playoffs
Here’s a look at the WPIAL girls soccer playoffs: Class 4A Favorite: One of the more skilled teams in a pretty open field, top-seeded Peters Township shut out eight opponents and did not lose in its final seven games. The Indians, who made the semifinals a year ago, are 6-0...
GCC soccer teams get top seeds but no home-field advantage
Home-field advantage could play a big part in this year’s WPIAL soccer playoffs. Higher-seeded teams get home games through the semifinals because the WPIAL tried to avoid multiple teams traveling to the same site — a product of covid-19 awareness. Greensburg Central Catholic landed No. 1 seeds in the WPIAL...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: Penn-Trafford focused on rivalry game
Penn-Trafford could finish atop the Class 5A Big East Conference but not be considered a conference champion. The WPIAL said it will not recognize conference winners if canceled games would have an impact on the outcome. Penn-Trafford had covid-19 cases not long after Gateway did, forcing the teams’ anticipated matchup...
Franklin Regional boys soccer eyes WPIAL 3-peat
Franklin Regional arranged some objectives early in the boys soccer season, like it was laying out a new outfit for the first day of in-person school. No matter what the Panthers wear, they still look good. But winning the section was first on the list. Bringing home a third WPIAL...
Westmoreland boys soccer notebook: Norwin back to full strength for playoffs
Norwin had two late-season ties in boys soccer, which caught the eye of opposing teams and the people who conjure up the WPIAL rankings. Both games were at Norwin Knights Stadium. Allderdice played the high-powered Knights to a 0-0 draw, and, three games later, improved Latrobe and No. 4 Norwin...
Norwin girls volleyball, Latrobe boys soccer shut down because of covid-19 concerns
The Norwin girls volleyball and Latrobe boys soccer teams have shut down for 14 days because of possible exposure to covid-19. Norwin canceled its last four matches and Latrobe its final four games. If Norwin (5-4) qualifies for the WPIAL playoffs, based on results of other matches, the team might...
Jeannette freshman QB Brad Birch is ‘for real’
When he talks in casual conversation or even in interviews, Brad Birch likes to finish a lot of sentences with the words, “for real.” “I’m not that interesting of a kid, to be honest,” he said sheepishly. “I just want to play football and win games. For real.” Birch, a...
Ligonier Valley girls soccer team not apologizing for unique path to playoffs
When a clerical error made Apollo-Ridge ineligible for the WPIAL Class A girls soccer playoffs, there was a wide-eyed newcomer waiting to fill the vacancy. First-year WPIAL member Ligonier Valley (3-10, 2-7 Section 1-A) might have found its way into the district tournament as an innocent bystander, but the Rams...
Westmoreland girls soccer notebook: Latrobe clinches playoff spot in style
Latrobe earned a hard-fought, 2-1 victory over Penn-Trafford last Thursday night to clinch a spot in the WPIAL girls soccer playoffs from Section 3-4A. What a way to extend the season. The win carried extra meaning because Latrobe hadn’t beaten the Warriors since 1995, when some of the current players’...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Saint Vincent to host ’22 NCAA women’s volleyball finals
Saint Vincent will serve as the host program for the 2022 NCAA Division III women’s volleyball championship Nov. 17-19 at Duquesne’s UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The 2018 championship also was played at Duquesne at the then-A.J. Palumbo Center. It marked the first time a Presidents’ Athletic Conference member was selected to...
Trib HSSN WPIAL boys and girls soccer rankings for Oct. 19, 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, 11-1, 1 2. Butler, 9-1, 2 3. Peters Township, 9-1-1, 3 4. Norwin, 7-2-1, 4 5. North Allegheny, 7-2, 5 Class...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Franklin Regional’s Kimmich has chance for double titles
There were days this fall when Luke Kimmich would play in a nine-hole golf match after school, change clothes and be back in time to join the boys soccer team for a practice or game. The senior from Franklin Regional pulled double-duty and handled it with the best of the...
Mt. Pleasant tennis standouts double up as softball stars
They are used to singles and doubles … and triples and home runs. But we’re talking tennis here, not softball. Mt. Pleasant has found success in both sports, and many of the same names have made that happen. In a unique case, the Vikings had three Division I softball players...
Westmoreland H.S. football notebook: Hempfield copes with sudden end to season
Hempfield players had no clue they were playing their final football game of the season two Friday nights ago at Baldwin. The seniors had no idea it would be their last high school game, period. Hempfield had some recent covid-19 cases in school and initially planned to pause athletics for...
Norwin notebook: Trip to WPIAL finals a 1st for Knights golfers
Norwin switched home courses for boys golf this fall. Nothing against Irwin Country Club, it was just that the Knights wanted a place more comparable to the places where their section foes play regularly. So, they moved to Youghiogheny Country Club near McKeesport. It was a few more miles down...
