Westmoreland County campus clippings: Latrobe grad Sofia DeCerb earns preseason honor

James Madison redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Sofia DeCerb (Latrobe) was named the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year.

DeCerb started 21 games last season and made the Sun Belt all-tournament team. She produced a conference-best seven shutouts for the conference champion Dukes.

She finished 12-4-4 in 21 starts with a 1.41 goals-against average and made 65.9% of her saves.

JMU is the favorite to win the Sun Belt Conference after it received nine first-place votes from the 14 conference coaches in a preseason poll.

Football

Saint Vincent: The Bearcats were voted ninth out of 11 teams in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference preseason poll.

They are coming off a 1-9 season and will look to improve under new coach Casey Goff.

Top returning players include senior offensive lineman Anthony Capazzoli, junior safety Robbie Labuda (Mt. Pleasant), sophomore wide receiver Jakub Pickett and sophomore wide receiver Ian Tuffs (Hempfield).

A newcomer to watch is sophomore quarterback Jake Phillips (Hempfield).

Seton Hill: Conference coaches voted Seton Hill No. 5 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division preseason poll.

The Griffins, who finished 3-8, bring back leading rusher and pass catcher Ky’Ron Cragette, sophomore receiver Cody Rubrecht (Greensburg Salem) and top tackler Ritchie McCormack, a junior linebacker.

Cragette, a redshirt senior, ran for 1,373 yards and 13 touchdowns, and caught 33 receptions for 238 yards. Rubrecht had 25 catches for 354 yards and two scores, while McCormack had 92 stops.

D’Kairi Boone (86 tackles) and junior defensive back Demetri Whitehead (4 interceptions) also come back.

Women’s lacrosse

Saint Vincent: Joe Conner resigned as head coach of the Bearcats after one season.

Conner was an SVC men’s assistant lacrosse coach in 2024. He was expected to take a men’s coaching job within the PAC.

Assistant Makayla Kintner will lead the women’s team in the interim.