Bill Beckner stories, Page 99
Norwin softball standout Snowberger commits to Holy Cross
Bailey Snowberger likes to work in silence. Take a random week night at Norwin High School. There is an event going on at Knights Stadium, and Snowberger is running hill sprints up to the middle school, hustling up and down the stadium bleachers and cooling off around the parking lot....
Westmoreland high school notebook: Girls soccer talent abounds in area
Girls soccer talent is bubbling over in Westmoreland County, as evidenced by postseason playoff runs, career scoring milestones and Division I commitments. The proof also lies in the All-WPIAL list, which was released last week. Mt. Pleasant, which made the WPIAL Class 2A final for the first time, had five...
Norwin focuses on youth football players to build program’s foundation
On a cold February night, the high school cafeteria at Norwin buzzed with voices of youngsters who represented the future of varsity football at the school. Dozens of bright-eyed players who one day will carry the football, block and tackle and sacrifice for one another as members of the Knights,...
Norwin notebook: Youth football teams play in championship games
Norwin had two teams playing for titles at the Western Pennsylvania Youth Football League championships Oct. 30 at Norwin Knights Stadium. Norwin defeated Trinity, 19-13, in the Division 3 (K-second grade) game to finish with a 10-0 record. Santino Gorski ran for a touchdown and finished with more than 2,000...
Westmoreland high school athletes of the week for the week ending Nov. 6, 2022
Ava Hershberger School: Penn-Trafford Sport: Field hockey Class: Junior Claim to fame: Hershberger helped lead the Warriors to their seventh straight WPIAL Class 2A championship. The Lady Warriors claimed the title with a 4-1 win over Latrobe. Hershberger, an Ohio State commit, scored her 40th goal in the victory, breaking...
College basketball preview: Latrobe grad Butler has high hopes for basketball season
Bryce Butler took the Mountain East Conference and NCAA Division II Atlantic Region by storm last season. What will the former Latrobe standout do for an encore? A West Liberty junior swingman who is as surefire a bet to get a double-double as anyone in the country, Butler was the...
Latrobe, Ligonier Valley celebrate long-awaited WPIAL playoff victories
As he walked off the practice field one day last week, Latrobe football coach Ron Prady was asked if he thought his team had a chance against higher-seeded Highlands in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. “I do,” he said with a sly smile. “Our kids have...
Fiona Mahan’s 2 goals help Avonworth defend WPIAL Class 2A girls soccer title
For Mt. Pleasant girls soccer, the thrill of the hunt was invigorating. And while the team’s first trip to the WPIAL championship was met with disappointment, it could be the start of something special for a budding program. “There was no intimidation on this field,” Vikings coach Rich Garland said....
Ligonier Valley beats Western Beaver for 1st WPIAL playoff win in school history
Ligonier Valley drove two-and-a-half hours to its playoff game last year. Playing a little closer to home Friday night, the Rams were more focused on long drives to the end zone. Behind a power rushing attack that wore down their opponent and chipped away at the clock, the seventh-seeded Rams...
WPIAL athletes Kreis, Smith earn HS Heisman scholarships
A pair of of WPIAL student-athletes are striking the Heisman pose today. Belle Vernon’s Viva Kreis and Grady Smith of Ellwood City are Pennsylvania’s winners of the annual High School Heisman Scholarship, given to a senior male and female from each state “who understand that the most important victories happen...
WPIAL Class 2A girls soccer championship breakdown: Avonworth vs. Mt. Pleasant
WPIAL girls soccer preview Class 2A championship 5-Avonworth (18-3) vs. 2-Mt. Pleasant (19-1) 11 a.m. Saturday, Highmark Stadium Video livestream: TribHSSN.triblive.com Tickets: $10 (general admission); Parking $10 (cash only) Coaches: JC Mahan, Avonworth; Rich Garland, Mt. Pleasant Players to watch: Fiona Mahan, MF, Avonworth; Morgan Gesinski, F, Mt. Pleasant WPIAL...
Defense to provide backbone for high-scoring Mt. Pleasant in WPIAL girls soccer finals vs. Avonworth
To some people, a scoreless soccer game that goes into overtime might be a yawner. But to coaches like Mt. Pleasant’s Rich Garland, a soccer purest who appreciates sound, structured play, games like that can be glorious. “It was an extremely fun game to watch,” Garland said of his team’s...
Longtime equipment manager is heart and soul of Latrobe football program
Search the downtown streets or the outskirts of the Chestnut Ridge. Check the terminal of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport or the campus of Saint Vincent College. You can try, but you aren’t going to find anybody happier to see the Latrobe football team winning again than Jim Feather. The man...
Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Playoff berth not enough for Ligonier Valley
Inclusion is no longer a goal for Ligonier Valley, which has warmed up to the WPIAL after rejoining District 7 in 2020. The team clearly looks like it belongs here. What the Rams want now is postseason success to follow their torrid runs through District 6. For years, playoff time...
Westmoreland County don’t miss high school football matchups for 2022 Week 10
Class 5A 7-Penn-Trafford (6-4) at 2- Pine-Richland (7-3) 7 p.m. Friday at Pine-Richland Stadium, Gibsonia Winner plays: Winner of 6-Woodland Hills (5-5) at 3-Franklin Regional (6-3) in semifinals at 7 p.m. Nov. 11 The reigning WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A champions rallied to defeat Franklin Regional, 28-21, to qualify for...
2022 All-WPIAL girls soccer list announced
With WPIAL soccer finals weekend approaching, league coaches came up with this year’s All-WPIAL girls soccer list. Here are their selections (alphabetical by school): Ella Shorkey, Sr., MF, Allderdice Isabella Hite, Sr., MF, Aquinas Academy Mylea Riggle, Jr., MF, Armstrong Gianna Babusci, Jr., F, Avonworth Fiona Mahan, So., MF, Avonworth...
3 finalists announced for Moe Rosensteel Award
The winner of the fourth Moe Rosensteel Player of the Year Award for the WPIAL’s top girls soccer player will be announced following the PIAA championships. Three finalists were announced Wednesday. They are Moon senior midfielder Hailey Longwell, North Allegheny senior forward Lucia Wells and Mars senior forward Piper Coffield....
No. 2 Moon blanks No. 3 Plum in Class 3A girls soccer semifinals
Moon scored so fast, some late-entering fans had not even found a seat. The momentum from an early goal carried the second-seeded Tigers back to the WPIAL girls soccer championship and sets the table for the finals matchup everybody wanted. Sydney Felton found the back of the net just 22...
Mars scores plenty in WPIAL semifinal win vs. Latrobe
Strobe lights flash at Gateway when teams score goals. As if Mars wasn’t flashy enough. The top-seeded Fightin’ Planets made it 80 straight games without a loss via a 4-1 victory over No. 5 Latrobe in a WPIAL Class 3A semifinal Tuesday night in Monroeville. Now they will continue their...
Westmoreland WPIAL soccer playoff capsule: Game for Nov. 2, 2022
WPIAL girls soccer playoffs Today’s game Class A consolation Greensburg Central Catholic (12-5) vs. Waynesburg (16-4) 8 p.m., Peters Township High School, McMurray What’s at stake?: The winner advances to the PIAA playoffs. The loser’s season is over. Players to watch: Sara Felder, F, GCC; Ashlyn Basinger, F, Waynesburg Corner...
Dave Brozeski steps down as Norwin football coach
After nine seasons as Norwin’s head football coach, Dave Brozeski is stepping down from the position. He turned in his resignation four days after the Knights closed out a 1-9 season. “It was time,” Brozeski said. “I needed to do what is right for the program. It was a privilege...
Mars pair picked for HS All-American soccer game
Three players from Western Pennsylvania were selected to play in the High School All-American soccer games set for Dec. 10 in Panama City, Fla. Rosters for the annual all-star games were announced Tuesday afternoon. The nationally ranked Mars girls, who will play Latrobe Tuesday night in the WPIAL Class 3A...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Franklin Regional grad Mike Evans enters transfer portal
Mike Evans continues to search for the right fit in college football. The former Franklin Regional standout receiver played only three games at Robert Morris before transferring to West Virginia. But before he ever saw the field in Morgantown, he was on the move again, entering his name into the...
Freedom girls defeat Greensburg Central Catholic in 2OT in wild WPIAL Class A semifinal
If any team has been a thorn in Freedom’s side in recent years, it’s Greensburg Central Catholic. GCC had knocked the Bulldogs out of the WPIAL and PIAA Class A girls soccer playoffs four times in three years. Shaye Bailey had seen enough. Bailey took a high through ball and...
Westmoreland soccer notebook: Third county team gets crack at Mars girls
Two Westmoreland girls soccer teams have attempted to knock three-time defending WPIAL and PIAA champion Mars from these playoffs, but Penn-Trafford and Franklin Regional have come up short despite Herculean efforts. Both took Mars to overtime and lost 1-0. Another local team, Latrobe (12-2-2), will get its shot at the...
