Bill Beckner stories, Page 37

A rare loss did not affect the Moon girls soccer team’s standing in the state rankings. The defending PIAA champion Tigers (7-1-1), who were upset last week by South Fayette, 1-0, to end their 47-game unbeaten streak, remain No. 1 in the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association rankings for Class 3A....

Greenburg Central Catholic has to take it easy in practice this season. Like Yough last year, the Centurions have a small roster. Sometimes, they barely have enough for one side. The year started with 15 players, but GCC played with only 11 in a recent game against Serra Catholic, which...

Sophomore forward Annalyse Bauer had a couple of near-miss scoring opportunities in the second half, bumping a header off the post and later ringing a shot off the football crossbar. When the ball came to her ahead of two defenders early in overtime, she made sure to finish. An offensive...

Zach Cernuto knew he was not going to play quarterback when he left Southmoreland and joined the football team at Washington & Jefferson. But the thought of playing tight end or H-back intrigued him because he knew he could still have an impact on offense, be it by blocking people...

Alex Tatsch spent a perfect late-summer day in Morgantown. He looked around a college campus, watched the Backyard Brawl and came home with a souvenir: a scholarship offer. West Virginia extended an offer to the Latrobe junior football standout Saturday, stamping his potential as a Power 5 prospect. After an...

Brian Znavor is the new girls basketball coach at Yough. A Norwin graduate, Znavor was the Yough boys basketball coach in the early 2000s, taking over that position when he was 23. He coached the Cougars’ all-time scoring leader, Ben McCauley, who went on to play at N.C. State and...

Riley Kerr School: Greensburg Central Catholic Class: Junior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Kerr has scored 12 goals in four games for the Centurions. An All-WPIAL forward last season, she netted four goals in a 7-1 win over Seton LaSalle, then tallied a career-high six scores in a 14-1 win...

Tristyn Tavares said there wasn’t a lot of chatter or pep talks when Norwin fell behind by 16 points early in the fourth quarter Friday night at Plum. No, the Knights let their actions do the talking and saved their best for last. “We just knew as a team the...

Mike Brown expected Norwin’s passing offense to flourish once the quarterback and receivers established their timing. “That was missing in the first couple games,” the Knights’ first-year coach said. “It’s a new system, and there is a level of understanding that comes with it. Our guys are making plays.” In...

The question swirled around each of them. It made the three brothers tense up momentarily, and then smile an ornery grin. There was no right answer, only a playful calculation to kick back at: Who is the best soccer player in the Kimmich family? “I love this question, and I’m...

Latrobe called for a blackout from its home fans Friday night. Thomas Jefferson opted for a knockout. The second-ranked Jaguars, with their two-quarterback attack, proved to be too much for Latrobe in a 41-14 victory in the Class 4A Big Seven Conference opener at Latrobe Memorial Stadium. Brody Evans completed...

It took blood and sweat, but first place in Section 3-2A belongs to Belle Vernon — for now. Belle Vernon, playing at full strength for the first time all season after a few key players came back from injury, put up an early goal and grinded out a 1-0 boys...

Legendary Jeannette and Greensburg Central Catholic coach Joe Mucci is among 50 nominees — players, coaches and teams included — for the second National High School Football Hall of Fame class. Another former Jayhawks headliner, the late John Crowell, was enshrined this year in the inaugural class. Lamont “Showboat” Robinson,...

Regional television and radio will feature several Westmoreland County teams Friday night while shining a spotlight on two recent WPIAL and PIAA championship programs. Belle Vernon (2-0) will visit Penn-Trafford (1-2) in a game that will be televised on 22 The Point as part of the channel’s “Friday Night Rivals”...

An airplane flew over Rossi Field early in the girls soccer game Wednesday night, descending slowly toward the nearby airport named after Arnold Palmer. A short time later, Latrobe lifted off. Junior Robin Reilly and freshman Emerson Shine netted first-half goals as the fourth-ranked Wildcats set down visiting No. 5...

Class 5A Big East Conference Franklin Regional (2-1) at Gateway (0-3) 7 p.m. Friday, Pete Antimarino Stadium, Monroeville Last week: Franklin Regional 38, Connellsville 0; North Hills 26, Gateway 8 Last year’s result: Franklin Regional 16, Gateway 7 Teams trending in separate directions will open Big East Conference play. …...

Tanner Rosborough already has made a number of professional appearances. He had 28 goals during the MLS NEXT regular season and won an MLS NEXT Cup, scoring the game-winning goal in the final. Be that as it may, Rosborough is only 15 years old. It’s quite obvious, this kid is...

It is a question coaches in Section 4-3A keep asking: How good is Latrobe? The Wildcats, looking to get back into the WPIAL playoff conversation under second-year coach Jake Rice, have started 4-1. They opened with a 2-1 win over Penn-Trafford, then handled Obama (3-1) and Penn Hills (3-0). Their...

When Norwin played Canon-McMillan in a section matchup last boys soccer season, Daniel Maddock moved from outside back, where he had played for three games, to the wing. “I scored a goal from like 30 yards out,” the Knights’ junior said. “I have been playing striker ever since.” And he...

With junior Robin Reilly giving a verbal commitment to West Virginia, Latrobe continued its recent pipeline to Division I college soccer. The Wildcats now have four players committed to D-1 programs. The others are senior forward Regan Reilly (Bowling Green), senior midfielder Ella Bulava (Maryland) and junior midfielder Maddy Petruzzi...

When a goal finally found its way into the net during an overtime section opener at Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford did not descend into girls soccer madness. It was just a miscue — a hitch, a blip — and the Warriors didn’t expect to make many more. And they haven’t. Only...

Katie Miller Gee advanced through stroke play and never trailed in her opening match at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Stonewall Golf Club in Elverson. Gee, the girls golf coach at Hempfield, where she is one of the school’s most celebrated champions, cruised past Marissa Mar of Palo Alto,...

Hempfield hired three varsity head coaches Monday. Bob Madison was approved for girls basketball, while Steve Santia will lead the wrestling team, and Mackenzie Whatule takes over the girls lacrosse program. Madison was a former assistant at Laurel Highlands, his alma mater. He is the husband of Hempfield softball coach...

There is a Greensburg Salem flavor to the Seton Hill football team. With redshirt freshman Hayden Teska taking over the quarterbacking duties over the weekend, there are now three former Golden Lions contributing for the Griffins (1-1), who defeated Shippensburg for the first time, 28-23, on Saturday at Offutt Field....

The WPIAL girls tennis individual postseason begins Wednesday with section tournaments around the district. Keep an eye on Greensburg Central Catholic junior Sasha Hoffman, a title contender in Class 2A. A dominant player this season, Hoffman is 8-0 and has won 92 games while losing only two. “She doesn’t make...