Bill Beckner stories, Page 77
Reilly has big return as Latrobe beats Norwin at Moe Rosensteel memorial
Four goals. It wasn’t so much about how they happened, but that they happened. Then again, Latrobe players and coaches have come to expect such a performance from Robin Reilly. The junior midfielder had not played a competitive game in two months when she took the field for the first...
Bishop Canevin revs up in victory against Greensburg Central Catholic
Greensburg Central Catholic was hoping Bishop Canevin would be rusty because the highly touted Crusaders did not play a game or scrimmage last week. The Crusaders were, especially early. But they recovered from the groggy start and a slew of penalties, using a huge push up front and some GCC...
Plum shuts out rival Franklin Regional in early season section showdown
Plum is finding different ways to score goals this soccer season. It doesn’t have to be pretty. It can even be boring, as long as the ball goes in the net. The fourth-ranked Mustangs did enough to claim a 1-0 shutout in a chippy Section 3-3A matchup against neighboring Franklin...
Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Top runners clash when Ligonier Valley, Southmoreland meet
John Jablunovsky and Da’sjon Craggette ran wild in their season openers, each rushing for more than 200 yards as their teams won. The speedsters will square off this week as Ligonier Valley (1-0) hosts Southmoreland (1-0) in nonconference action. You want track speed? You’ll get it with these two. This...
Franklin Regional beats Penn-Trafford in OT in defensive struggle
When two defensive-minded girls soccer teams get together, you don’t expect to see much offense. Maybe none at all. At least not in the run of play. Franklin Regional and Penn-Trafford didn’t take many chances, or shots, as they battled deep into the second half and into overtime Wednesday night,...
Westmoreland County high school football matchups for 2023 Week 1
Class A No. 2 Bishop Canevin (0-0) at Greensburg Central Catholic (1-0) 7 p.m. Friday, Centurions Stadium, Carbon Last week: Bishop Canevin did not play; Greensburg Central Catholic 37, Mt. Pleasant 24 Last year’s meeting: Bishop Canevin 30, Greensburg Central Catholic 14 Two Class A playoff contenders meet in a...
Westmoreland County boys soccer notebook: Belle Vernon to host annual kickoff classic
It would not be the start of boys soccer season in the Mon Valley without the Paul Sasko Kickoff Classic at Belle Vernon. The annual Labor Day weekend event, which began under a different name in 2005, is named after Sasko, the former Leopards coach who died in 2016. This...
Face of Jeannette boys soccer program sets big-time goals
Jordan Taylor doesn’t just have one goal in mind for soccer season; he has about 100. All right, so maybe that is a stretch for the senior who seems like he has been playing at Jeannette for a decade. Four-year starters tend to become the face of a team, and...
Comeback from injury helps Latrobe’s Yurko appreciate soccer
When she took the field for the first time in seven months, the feeling was indescribable for Ava Yurko. Butterflies. Chills. Pure goose flesh. The rising junior at Latrobe last played a soccer game in September, when she tore the ACL, LCL and meniscus in her right knee, ending her...
Westmoreland County girls soccer notebook: Schedule set for Moe Rosensteel Kickoff Classic
The 2nd annual Moe Rosensteel Memorial Kickoff Classic will be Saturday at Norwin Knights Stadium. The three-game girls soccer showcase has the same schedule as last year with Franklin Regional vs. Thomas Jefferson at 10 a.m., Hickory vs. Ringgold at 11:30, and Latrobe vs. Norwin at 1 p.m. Money raised...
Greensburg Salem golfer’s swing is sweeter with new prosthetic armVideo
As soon as he arrived home from the Hanger Clinic in Greensburg, Ian Smith grabbed a golf club and headed for his backyard. The anticipation was too pressing. The butterflies were swarming in his stomach. He wanted to hug somebody. Now, he could. A few slides and a couple clicks...
Belle Vernon girls golf team finally tees off for its inaugural season
As Vittoria Scaramucci pushed a tee into the ground, set her golf ball on it and took aim down the fairway, the intensity of the moment began to set in. This wasn’t any ordinary tee shot Aug. 18 at Cedarbrook Golf Course’s Red Course. It was the first one in...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Penn-Trafford grad Malia Kearns off to fast start at RMU
After earning Horizon League all-freshmen accolades last season, it should not come as a surprise that Penn-Trafford graduate Malia Kearns is making an impact already as a sophomore at Robert Morris. She scored a goal and registered an assist in the team’s first three games, all wins. Her assist came...
Westmoreland H.S. notebook: WCCA boys golf championship coming this week
The first event on the Westmoreland County Coaches Association’s fall calendar will take place later this week with the boys golf championship. The 18-hole event begins at 9 a.m. Thursday at Latrobe Elks Golf Course. An individual champion will be crowned, along with Class 3A and 2A team winners. There...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: Soccer recruit delivers in clutch for Jeannette
Jeannette football coach Tommy Paulone and his staff were on the lookout for a kicker this offseason. So they cast a line into a pond where desperate coaches hope to get a bite: the soccer team. There they found senior Austin Emery, an accomplished soccer player who had not kicked...
Hempfield girls soccer snaps 46-game losing streak
The streak is over. There aren’t four more refreshing words for the Hempfield girls soccer team to hear. There couldn’t be. Not for a team that hadn’t won a game in almost four years. Not for a team that had not scored a goal in two years. The Spartans were...
Norwin girls soccer driven to return to playoffs
Norwin girls soccer coach Diane Metzger does not like to get too specific with preseason details about her team. That is because the unexpected can show up, well, unexpectedly. Injuries derailed the Lady Knights the last two seasons, leaving a scar in 2022 when the team missed the WPIAL playoffs...
Franklin Regional boys look to reload, climb WPIAL soccer ladder
Lukas Petersen remembers the empty feeling in his body as he watched Montour celebrate a 2-1 upset of his Franklin Regional Panthers in the WPIAL Class 3A first round late last October. He doesn’t want to feel that again. He doesn’t want his players to experience it, either. But nothing...
Latrobe gets all phases clicking in convincing opening-night win over Derry
A few weeks ago, Latrobe Memorial Stadium hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers’ annual “Friday Night Lights” practice. About 14,000 people showed up to catch a glimpse of the team. While the crowd wasn’t quite as large this time, Latrobe fans filled the bleachers and looked on with similar interest as their...
Yough athletic director resigns
Yough is looking for an athletic director after the resignation of Bill Flow. Flow, who was hired last June, is leaving to teach English at Highlands High School in Harrison Township, Allegheny County. A Norwin graduate, Flow oversaw the replacement of Yough’s basketball court and made other updates aimed at...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: Craggette gets comfortable at Southmoreland
Da’sjon Craggette looked comfortable during a few training camp drills, making plays and laughing with his new teammates at Southmoreland. “It’s gone better than I could have imagined,” said Craggette, a senior running back and safety who transferred from Greensburg Central Catholic — by way of Geibel, which does not...
Westmoreland County girls soccer preview: Mt. Pleasant primed for more playoff success
After a WPIAL runner-up season that included a trip to the PIAA Class 2A girls soccer semifinals, Mt. Pleasant is primed for another postseason push. The Vikings, who went 21-3, could have the best lineup their soccer program has seen, and with it, speed, technique and a sense of belonging...
Westmoreland County boys soccer preview: Trevor Kovatch back to lead young Belle Vernon
Fifteen players accounted for points, and 11 scored goals last season for Belle Vernon’s boys soccer team. The balanced production led the Leopards to a section title and a WPIAL Class 3A playoff spot. While they will be young this season, the Leopards still could bounce the ball around and...
Former Jeannette teammates Robert Kennedy, Marcus Barnes suiting up for major college programs
Robert Kennedy and Marcus Barnes were football teammates at Jeannette and won WPIAL and PIAA championships together. They shared the same defensive secondary, ball-hawking with the best in Class A. On offense, Kennedy carried the football and Barnes caught it out wide. Who knew five years later they both would...
Seton Hill promotes assistant Gallagher to head women’s basketball coach after Katarski accepts new role
A promotion, a new role and a change in command. The wheels are in motion with the Seton Hill women’s basketball program. The university announced assistant Maeve Gallagher has been promoted to head coach, while Mark Katarski, who has guided the Griffins for nine seasons and has the program record...
