Bill Beckner stories, Page 39

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 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...

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...

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

The 2023 Moe Rosensteel Player of the Year watch list is here, just a few days before the start of the high school season. This is the fifth year for the award, which is named for the late Katelyn “Moe” Rosensteel and goes to the top girls soccer player in...

After two years away from high-level softball, Maddy Grimm returned to the game she loves and won a championship. The Ligonier Valley alum helped lead the Texas Smoke to the first championship in the Women’s Professional Fastpitch league. The power-hitting shortstop out of Kent State stretched out her career a...

When Tim Bukowski joined the staff as the offensive coordinator at Southmoreland in 2018, he didn’t just put in a new offense. He made it a priority to develop quarterbacks who could run it. Now the second-year head coach of the Scotties, Bukowski appreciates what he sees in the development...

WPIAL girls soccer preview Class 4A Defending champion: North Allegheny Runner-up: Peters Township Team to beat: North Allegheny brings back eight all-section players and should have some offensive pop as the Tigers chase their fourth title in five years. Others to watch: Look for experienced Peters Township to chase down...

Junior Julia Bursick is done playing soccer at Norwin. For now. In a couple of years, she hopes to be playing for Duquesne. In between, she will train and continue to prepare for a post-high school career in soccer and academics. Bursick announced Monday she has verbally committed to play...