Bill Beckner stories, Page 69
Clutch goal, tight defense send Norwin boys to 1st state playoff win in 34 years
One heightened moment in an otherwise twitchy soccer game gave a Norwin senior the thrill of his prep career and sent the better part of 1,200 screaming fans into a fever pitch. Forward Carson Zadylak finished a prime build-up for a first-half goal before WPIAL champion Norwin turned to its...
Capsule previews for Westmoreland County college basketball teams
Men Saint Vincent Division: III Conference: Presidents’ Athletic Conference Coach: D.P. Harris Last year’s record: 15-11, 11-9 Conference finish: 6th Playoff finish: PAC quarterfinals Key returnees: Jaden Gales (So., F), Mike Iuzzolino (Jr., G), Osyon Jones (Sr., G) Notable: Gales (6-foot-6, 215) was the PAC Newcomer of the Year and...
Westmoreland County college basketball preview: Bryce Butler looks to write final chapter at Charleston
The next chapter of Bryce Butler’s sparkling college basketball career is in the jump circle. Curiosity and opportunity led the former Latrobe standout to a Division I program, the College of Charleston, where he will spend his fifth season. Butler emerged as one of the top Division II players in...
Westmoreland PIAA soccer playoff capsule: Game for Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023
PIAA boys soccer playoffs Class 4A first round Warwick (21-1-1) at Norwin (15-5-1) 6 p.m. Tuesday, Norwin Knights Stadium, North Huntingdon Winner plays: Winner of Abington (20-3)/Manheim Township (12-5-3) on Saturday in quarterfinals Players to watch: Eli Yerger, Warwick; Ryan Shoemer, Norwin Throw-ins: Warwick is the fourth-place team from District...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Seton Hill clinches 1st winning season in PSAC West
When Seton Hill has won football games on coach Dan Day’s watch, defense has usually been the calling card. Low-scoring games often favor the Griffins. The team put that stamp on their latest victory, a 14-0 shutout of Mercyhurst that clinched the program’s first winning record in the PSAC West...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Latrobe’s Alex Tatsch draws more college offers
Alex Tatsch has more than a handful of Power 5 scholarship offers. The list of interested schools is rising like his recruiting stock. Tatsch, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior running back and linebacker who is getting recruited heavily for defense, added offers from Maryland and South Carolina last week. In addition,...
Preparation, passion lead Norwin to title-game victory
Late Saturday night at Highmark Stadium, with the twinkle of the Pittsburgh skyline reflecting off the Monongahela River, Rick Zappone wasn’t sure if going to penalty kicks favored his Norwin team or North Allegheny more. After all, both teams were exhausted, drained by unrelenting yet superior soccer that still left...
Young coaches get their football fix on Norwin staff
Anthony Giansante and Jackson Pruitt were supposed to be playing college football this fall. Giansante should be a redshirt sophomore and Western Carolina, Pruitt a redshirt junior at Youngstown State. But instead, the former high school standouts found football fulfillment on the coaching staff at Norwin. “You don’t get the...
Westmoreland high school athletes of the week: Greensburg Central Catholic’s Eva Denis, Greensburg Central Catholic’s Nick Szekely
Eva Denis School: Greensburg Central Catholic Class: Junior Sport: Volleyball Claim to fame: Denis, who contributes in several ways to the Centurions’ rotation, helped the team reach the WPIAL Class A semifinals. In a 3-2 loss to Serra Catholic, she had 17 kills and five blocks. GCC finished fourth in...
Norwin claims 1st WPIAL soccer championship with PK shootout win over North Allegheny
When Norwin started a group chat in the preseason, they called it “Road to Highmark.” When they rattled off back-to-back playoff upsets, they changed the name to, “Highmark.” Maybe now the Knights will label the ongoing text chain, “WPIAL champs.” George Bunovich scored the clinching penalty kick in a shootout...
Big plays help Greensburg Central Catholic top West Greene, end playoff drought
Establishing a running game, hitting some long scoring plays and sending a message early on defense, Greensburg Central Catholic erased a nuisance of a playoff drought. Speaking of nuisances, West Greene played that part well in the WPIAL Class A first round. No. 8 seed GCC took a big lead...
Hempfield grad wins Pan Am gold in pole vault
Already a world-class athlete, Bridget (Guy) Williams became a world champion with a victory at the Pan Am Games. The Hempfield and Virginia alum soared to a gold medal in the pole vault Friday at Julio Martinez Pradanos National Stadium in Santiago, Chile with a vault of 4.6 meters (15...
Norwin, North Allegheny expect physical, high-energy battle for Class 4A championship
North Allegheny and Butler engaged in some chippy final minutes in the WPIAL boys soccer semifinals. There was physical play, even some shoving, which resulted in yellow cards and a red card on Butler. Tigers second-year coach Manny Montero doesn’t condone that level of aggression, but he wasn’t completely put...
Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Playoff win would mean a lot to Greensburg Central Catholic
Greensburg Central Catholic versus West Greene. Truth be told, there isn’t very much green to this WPIAL Class A first-round playoff matchup. GCC (7-3) defeated West Greene (8-2) earlier in the season 48-30 and will look to make it back-to-back wins over the Pioneers when the teams play at 7...
Norwin goalkeeper returns from injury just in time for brilliant playoff run
Eleven games into his senior season, big-gloved Anthony Scalise was batting away shots, deflecting crosses and spoiling corner kicks with regularity. There weren’t many goalkeepers better than him in the state’s largest classification. But then came a freak disruption. The Norwin senior tore a groin muscle against rival Penn-Trafford in...
Westmoreland County high school soccer notebook: Latrobe’s Robin Reilly up for top award
Robin Reilly was one of the top goal scorers and set-up midfielders in Class 3A this season. An All-WPIAL selection, the junior from Latrobe is up for the top award in the WPIAL game. Reilly is a finalist for the Moe Rosensteel Most Outstanding Player of the Year Award, which...
Westmoreland County high school football playoff matchups for 2023 Week 10
Class 5A quarterfinals 8-Franklin Regional (6-4) at 1-Peters Township (10-0) 7 p.m. Friday, Confluence Financial Partners Stadium, McMurray Last week: Penn-Trafford 27, Franklin Regional 14; Peters Township 68, Bethel Park 28 Winner plays: Winner of 5-Moon (5-5)/4-Gateway (5-5) in semifinals Nov. 10 (time, site TBA) These teams are meeting for...
Coaching conundrum can’t slow Norwin’s run to WPIAL boys soccer finals
A referee saw Carter Breen jogging across the field during pregame warmups Tuesday night at Hampton and stopped him. “He asked me if I was one of the players from Norwin,” Breen said. “I laughed. I’m like, ‘No, I’m the coach.’ ” Still looking the part of a youthful player,...
Moon keeper Serayah Leech picked for All-American Game
Moon senior goalkeeper Serayah Leech was selected to play in the 11th annual Girls’ Soccer High School All-American Game, set for Dec. 9 at Wando High School in Charleston, S.C. Moon’s Bill Pfeifer was already slated to coach the East team so he will join Leech in the prestigious event....
No. 8 seed Norwin continues playoff surge, beating Fox Chapel to reach WPIAL finals
Anyone wearing a Halloween mask was not permitted to enter Hampton’s Fridley Field on Tuesday night. Anyone wearing a Norwin boys soccer jersey didn’t want to leave. There was plenty of celebrating to be done by the No. 8-seeded Knights after they clipped No. 5 Fox Chapel, 2-1, to continue...
All-state selections, coaches of year revealed for boys soccer
Fourteen boys soccer players from the WPIAL were named to the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association All-State list. Five coaches from Distict 7, meanwhile, garnered coach of the year honors by the Western Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association. The all-state honorees include Tyler Prex (Seneca Valley), Tristan Ralph (Plum), Kaiden Fischer (South...
Westmoreland WPIAL playoff soccer capsule: Game for Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023
WPIAL soccer playoffs Boys Class 3A Consolation game Franklin Regional (12-8) vs. Montour (15-5) 6 p.m. Wednesday at North Allegheny Players to watch: Jovan Sankoorikal, Franklin Regional; Jaxson Camp, Montour Throw-ins: The winner qualifies for the PIAA playoffs, and the loser’s season is finished. … Both teams have short weeks...
Ross golfer Nathan Smith to serve as captain in amateur’s East West Matches
Ross Township’s Nathan Smith, a decorated amateur golfer and six-time USGA champion, is going to get used to having the word captain in front of his name. Smith was selected as captain of the East team for the 2024 East West Matches to be played Nov. 1-3, at Maridoe Golf...
Hampton boys top Franklin Regional, return to WPIAL Class 3A final
Music thumped and blared from the Hampton locker room as Luke Fiscus was about to be interviewed after the game. “Want me to go in and turn that down?” the Talbots senior midfielder asked. And break the mood? Fiscus and his teammates had the volume on full blast most of...
Franklin Regional boys soccer coach to step down at end of playoffs
Franklin Regional boys soccer coach Lukas Petersen is stepping down after this season, which isn’t over yet. Petersen, whose wife, Leslie Carrese, is taking a new job in Baltimore, told the team before the playoffs began that he was leaving but revealed it in an interview Monday night. The Panthers...
