Bill Beckner stories, Page 65
Norwin boys get another shot at Seneca Valley, Mt. Pleasant girls receive top 3 seed
Norwin will have to wait until next weekend to open the WPIAL boys soccer playoffs. Until then, the Knights will be teeming with anticipation. They have been itching for another shot at their nemesis. “I wish the game was tomorrow,” coach Scott Schuchert said Wednesday after learning his Knights (12-5-1)...
Breaking down the 2023 WPIAL girls soccer playoffs
Here’s a closer look at the 2023 WPIAL girls soccer playoffs: Class 4A Favorite: The preseason favorite, North Allegheny (17-0) has not lost and has outscored teams 90-10. The Tigers were champions three times in the last four years (2022, ‘20, ‘19). Contenders: Section 2 winner Upper St. Clair (15-1)...
Breaking down the 2023 WPIAL boys soccer playoffs
Here’s a closer look at the 2023 WPIAL boys soccer playoffs: Class 4A Favorite: Seneca Valley (13-0-3), which has won three WPIAL titles in the last five years and was the runner-up last year, enters the postseason without a loss. The Raiders, led by veteran coach George Williams, ranked fifth...
3 teams chasing 3-peats as WPIAL announces soccer playoff pairings
Three teams will go for three-peats in the WPIAL soccer playoffs. The Moon girls (Class 3A), Avonworth girls (2A) and Winchester Thurston boys (A) are two-time defending champions. The No. 1 seeds for the boys playoffs are Seneca Valley (4A), Plum (3A), South Park (2A) and Charleroi (A). The girls...
Westmoreland County boys soccer notebook: Tournament honors late Mt. Pleasant grad
The late Seth Menart was a three-time all-section player at Mt. Pleasant and went on to win a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tile at Cal (Pa.) as a walk-on. The Mt. Pleasant community will continue to keep his memory alive with the 15th annual Seth Menart Memorial Soccer Tournament Nov....
Greensburg Central boys soccer enters WPIAL playoffs as intriguing underdog
It’s not often a team can take momentum from a loss, but Greensburg Central Catholic did that in a recent setback. The Centurions played top-ranked Charleroi close before falling 1-0. It was a far cry from a 4-1 loss to the Section 2-A champion Cougars earlier in the boys soccer...
Siblings abound on Westmoreland County playoff soccer teams
When Mason and Brandon Yeschenko were younger, they would put on large, red boxing gloves and settle disputes by going a couple of rounds in the basement. For Halloween one year, one of them dressed as Rocky Balboa. The other, Ivan Drago. “Every game they’d play, no matter what it...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Pitt-Greensburg wins 3rd straight conference title in girls tennis
Pitt-Greensburg celebrated a three-peat in women’s tennis. The Bobcats (11-2) swept past Penn State Behrend for a 5-0 victory in the final of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament and their third straight title. UPG advances to the NCAA Tournament in May. Senior Abigail Rosman picked up an 8-4 win...
Westmoreland County girls soccer notebook: Playoff teams await pairings
The WPIAL will announce playoff pairings Wednesday afternoon, and tournaments could start this weekend. Westmoreland County teams in the postseason are Latrobe (12-2), Franklin Regional (11-5-1), Penn-Trafford (11-6), and Kiski Area (7-9-2) in Class 3A; Mt. Pleasant (14-2), Southmoreland (9-5), Yough (5-13) and Burrell (11-4) in 2A; and Greensburg Central...
Hempfield thrower Peyton Murray commits to Notre Dame
A GIF of actor Charles S. Dutton, who plays the character Fortune in the film “Rudy,” is popular on the internet. It shows Fortune clapping his hands, showing his appreciation for the title’s main character, the undersized underdog football player who defied the odds as a walk-on at Notre Dame....
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Saint Vincent soccer teams post shutouts under the lights
Saint Vincent’s soccer teams should play under the lights more often. The women’s team had six players score goals in an 8-0 victory over Thiel, and the Bearcats men tied Thiel, 0-0, last Tuesday night at UPMC Field. It was a historic doubleheader for SVC, which hosted night soccer for...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: WCCA all-star game returning to Ligonier Valley
After a successful debut last year, the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Volleyball All-Star Game will return next month. The event will be 6 p.m. Nov. 21 at Ligonier Valley. Last year, 16 local teams were represented in the East vs. West matchup that includes top senior players selected by coaches....
Westmoreland athletes of the week: Latrobe’s Robin Reilly and Belle Vernon’s Rogan Maloney
Robin Reilly School: Latrobe Class: Junior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Reilly has been one of the top all-around players in the WPIAL, not only giving the talented Wildcats a go-to goal scorer but also someone who sets up the offense. A West Virginia commit, Reilly assisted on a goal...
Westmoreland high school football notes: Showdown between Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford looms
Second place and a playoff spot will be on the line in the Class 5A Big East Conference, and one game will settle it all. But fans will have to wait a week for Penn-Trafford (4-4, 3-1) to play at Franklin Regional (6-2, 3-1) in the key conference finale. The...
Norwin girls volleyball keeps up the fight
Norwin’s girls volleyball team was fighting for a playoff spot in Section 3-4A as the regular season winded toward a mid-October finish. The postseason outcome, should it not work in the Lady Knights’ favor, won’t have anything to do with fading effort. “The girls have been working hard every day...
Norwin notebook: Knights strive for better starts
While Norwin’s football team has been more resilient and competitive than is has been in a while, the Knights were trying to get off to better starts. Norwin rallied from 22 points down at halftime in a 37-29 loss at Franklin Regional in Week 6. The Knights scored 15 in...
Franklin Regional girls golfers test their mettle in WPIAL postseason
Mark Twain is believed to have said, “Golf is a good walk spoiled.” For Franklin Regional golfers Ali Boyle and Gianna Johnson, a stroll around Diamond Run Golf Club for the WPIAL Class 3A Championship on a perfect, sun-splashed October afternoon was a tune-up for the team postseason. “Obviously we...
Franklin Regional surges past Hempfield for 4th straight victory
The more progressions he goes through and the more repetitions he gets, the more Chase Lemke looks the part of Franklin Regional’s starting quarterback. “I am getting a lot more comfortable in the pocket,” Lemke said Friday night after he led the Panthers to their fourth straight win, 38-15 over...
Yough grad Jim Schaffer named athletic director at alma mater
Longtime volunteer coach and Yough diehard Jim Schaffer is primed to take over as athletic director on Cougar Mountain. Schaffer was hired this week to replace Bill Flow, who resigned in August after just more than a year on the job. An assistant baseball coach in the district for 15...
Latrobe boys get past Franklin Regional in OT in chippy match
A soccer game with as many cards as goals wasn’t settled in regulation, so Franklin Regional and Latrobe played overtime in their touchy Section 4-3A rematch. Ben Bigi scored in close with 8 minutes, 55 seconds left in the second overtime to lift Latrobe to a 2-1 victory and a...
Slick-fielding Hempfield shortstop Allie Cervola picks Ohio
Hempfield doesn’t just have a history of winning WPIAL and PIAA championships in softball. The program also has a track record for producing Division I college talent. The latest player to commit to a high-level program is junior Allie Cervola. A shortstop who has played catcher previously for the Spartans,...
Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Latrobe senior making impact
There has been plenty of buzz in Latrobe about a promising junior class that includes players such as running back/linebacker Alex Tatsch and quarterback/safety John Wetzel. But a senior might be the glue this promising team needs. Ja’Tawn Williams is having a terrific season in all three phases of the...
Lola Abraham’s 4 goals lift Riverview past GCC in Section 1-A showdown
Greensburg Central Catholic tried everything against Lola Abraham, marking her with multiple girls in 10-minute intervals as it tried to slow her down. But like she has done against so many other opponents throughout her career, Abraham scratched out those plans in impressive fashion. While some teams look like they’re...
Westmoreland County high school football matchups for 2023 Week 7
Class 5A Big East Conference Franklin Regional (5-2, 2-1) at Hempfield (1-6, 0-2) 7 p.m. Friday, Spartan Stadium, Hempfield Last week: Franklin Regional 37, Norwin 29; Seneca Valley 42, Hempfield 13 Last year’s result: Franklin Regional 56, Hempfield 21 Franklin Regional can get a share of the conference title if...
Westmoreland County boys soccer notebook: Jeannette’s Jordan Taylor climbs WPIAL all-time goals list
The goal came without any fanfare and it came in a loss, so Jordan Taylor didn’t think much of it. But his score last week in a 4-2 loss at Freeport was a record breaker. Taylor, a Jeannette senior forward, broke the boys’ career goals record for Westmoreland County with...
