Bill Beckner stories, Page 36

With only eight or nine girls available to play because of illness and injuries, Greensburg Central Catholic had to postpone its third straight girls soccer game. The Centurions, ranked No. 3 in WPIAL Class A, were scheduled to host No. 2 Springdale on Wednesday night, but the game has been...

It’s going on 10 p.m., and the lights are still on at Rossi Field. There is a chill in the air, and the players can see their breath. But nobody is complaining. The boys soccer team at Latrobe likes its night practices as much as it does a signature win....

Joey Bayne has tried just about every sport. Each one has brought about some measure of success. “Soccer was the first sport I played when I was like 4,” the junior from Franklin Regional said. “I played baseball until I was 10. I also did wrestling, swimming, basketball and golf....

Belle Vernon must have noticed when this week’s boys soccer rankings came out — WPIAL and state — and it did not make the cut. No top five, no top 10 … no love? “It’s not really something we talk about,” coach Al Yeschenko said. “Maybe the kids know, I’m...

In order to play soccer the way the Mt. Pleasant girls play, you have to be ready to run. There aren’t many teams with the wall-to-wall speed the Vikings possess. Not many teams can turn an ordinary pitch into a five-lane highway in hyperdrive. “To play that way, you have...

The Jeannette girls soccer team was missing a coach and on the verge of circling the drain when the district turned to its former leader to get things back on track. Billy Bryant, who resigned last year after two seasons leading the Jayhawks, was asked to return to the bench...

No surprises here: Seneca Valley ace softball pitcher Lexie Hames is headed to a top-tier NCAA program. The all-state junior fireballer announced Monday she has verbally committed to Clemson of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tigers went 49-12 last season and reached the NCAA Super Regional. ExtraInningsSoftball.com has Hames in...

The brothers Brose from Hempfield have helped the Delaware Blue Hens to a 3-1 start. Braden Brose, a graduate tight end, is starting alongside his brother, senior Fintan Brose, an offensive lineman. Braden Brose (6-3, 250) had a season-high four receptions for 66 yards in Saturday’s 29-25 win over New...

Norwin sophomore Lia Guzzie did not qualify for the WPIAL girls golf finals, but she made a lasting memory at the Section 3-3A Tournament. Guzzie had carded four straight fives on the back nine last Tuesday at Indiana Country Club and must have grown tired of the monotony. She decided...

Tasso Whipple was a little hesitant to talk to the media after his record-breaking performance Friday night. The Penn-Trafford junior running back, the kid with the cool-sounding name, had just ran for 300 yards and scored four touchdowns but wasn’t quite up for an interview. Fair enough. Whipple let his...

Jeannette announced its 2023 Athletic Hall of Fame class that includes seven athletes, a team, a coach and legend and contributor honorees. The Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Jeannette Educational Foundation, will include an induction ceremony on a date to be announced in January. This year’s inductees are: Athletes...

The Norwin girls soccer team made the most of senior night. The Lady Knights edged past visiting Baldwin, 2-1, for their second win of the season. They broke a four-game losing streak. Senior captains Evelyn Moore and Gabby Schoemer picked up points in the victory. Moore scored the go-ahead goal,...

Norwin football coach Mike Brown made a special moment out of his team’s first home win of the season, giving the game ball to his father and assistant coach, Bill Brown, for a birthday present on the Saturday after the victory. It was another reason to celebrate for the Knights,...

Gabriella Dusi School: Belle Vernon Class: Sophomore Sport: Tennis Claim to fame: The sophomore breezed to her first WPIAL Class 2A girls tennis title Wednesday and Thursday. She defeated Beaver senior Chloe DeSanzo, 6-1, 6-0, in the finals Thursday at North Allegheny. Dusi is ranked sixth in the state. Has...

Junior tailback Tasso Whipple averaged more than 13 yards per carry on the way to a single-game school rushing record of 300 yards and scored four touchdowns as he and Penn-Trafford remembered what it felt like to win at home. Shut out in back-to-back home games, the Warriors followed Whipple...

The highest-scoring team in WPIAL boys soccer isn’t going to slow down until the throttle burns out. Or until it leaves a lasting impression. Scoring a ton of goals is Jeannette’s forte so far this season. The surging Jayhawks are up to 81 goals after a 5-1 victory over Greensburg...

Hempfield is making some position changes work because of injuries. Rising talent Brock Heisler, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound sophomore tight end and long snapper, has been a part of the on-the-fly adjustments. The Spartans (1-3), who play at Penn-Trafford (1-3) on Friday night in the Class 5A Big East opener, have...

Mt. Pleasant could have made a fuss when the coaches’ state girls soccer rankings came out this week, and there was no mention of the Lady Vikings. None. Not even an “others receiving votes.” But, rather than complain, they decided to keep building their case for next week’s double-A top...

Class 5A Big East Conference Hempfield (1-3, 0-0) at Penn-Trafford (1-3, 0-0) 7:30 p.m. Friday, Warrior Stadium, Harrison City Last week: Shaler 33, Hempfield 17; Belle Vernon 21, Penn-Trafford 0 Last year’s result: Hempfield 28, Penn-Trafford 17 Both teams open conference play looking for a good start. Hempfield started 5-0...

Norwin has been one of the hotter teams in the WPIAL of late. After a 5-1 loss to top-ranked Seneca Valley, the Knights have been on a roll, winning six of seven by a combined score of 22-3. A 2-1 win over Mt. Lebanon showed the No. 3-ranked Knights can...

When he was about 5 years old, Trevor Kovatch wandered into his neighbor’s backyard and, bang, there it was. “They had a soccer net,” Kovatch said. “I kicked a ball in, and I knew then that I was going to love the game.” Even before grade school, the junior at...

It will be an all-Greensburg pairing at the Pure Insurance Championship this week at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Izzy Aigner, a senior at Greensburg Central Catholic, will play with Hempfield graduate and fan favorite Rocco Mediate in the 54-hole PGA Tour Champions event that features a side pro-junior competition for...

He plays for the highest-scoring boys soccer team in the WPIAL and is one of the highest-scoring players in the country. That made Jordan Taylor an easy choice for a national honor. Taylor, a senior standout at Jeannette, was named the United Soccer Coaches/MaxPreps High School State Player of the...

Latrobe likes to rely on an overcrowded midfield to control the tempo and produce occasional run-outs for scoring chances. It’s the boys soccer team’s bread and butter. The game plan worked as the tone-setter in Tuesday night’s surprising Section 4-3A victory against Franklin Regional. The Wildcats pushed ahead on a...

Because she has grown up in a soccer family, Franklin Regional’s Abby Paterline knows the game inside and out. She knows the field well, too, because there aren’t many spaces on it she has not occupied at one time or another. “My dad played at Grove City, and his dad,...