Westmoreland County campus clippings: Greensburg Salem grad Cody Rubrecht scores in debut

It didn’t take Cody Rubrecht long to score his first college touchdown.

In his first start, in his first college game, the freshman from Greensburg Salem grabbed a 45-yard touchdown pass from Jake Cruz as Seton Hill dropped a 35-24 decision to Wheeling in Thursday’s season opener.

He caught the tough pass in traffic, pulled the ball in close, and raced the final 20 yards to the end zone.

Rubrecht, who was a 1,000-yard passer, rusher and receiver in the WPIAL, had two catches for 47 yards in the loss.

Redshirt sophomore Ky’Ron Craggette ran for 95 yards and touchdown for the Griffins, while senior kicker Luke Hauger (Mt. Pleasant) kicked three extra points and made a 29-yard field goal.

Football

Allegheny: Senior wide receiver Declan O’Brien (Norwin) had a game-high 14 receptions for 169 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score in overtime as the Gators edged past Waynesburg, 39-36.

The performance earned him PAC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Delaware: Grad tight end Braden Brose (Hempfield) pulled in four receptions for 75 yards, including a 31-yard catch, as the Blue Hens downed Stony Brook, 37-13.

His brother, senior Fintan Brose (Hempfield), started on the offensive line.

Duquesne: Junior linebacker Gianni Rizzo (Norwin) had two tackles and recorded a sack that forced a fumble that led to a score as the Dukes pounded Edinboro, 49-7.

Edinboro: Junior safety Toby Cline (Jeannette) and junior linebacker CJ Waldier (Yough) combined for 13 tackles, seven by Cline, in a 49-7 loss to Duquesne.

Grove City: Sophomore Jack Jollie (Penn-Trafford) made a team-high seven tackles and helped hold Westminster to 67 yards rushing in a 17-7 win. It was Jollie’s first start for the Wolverines.

Marshall: Redshirt junior lineman Trent Holler (Latrobe) and his teammates edged grad lineman Scotty Houseman (Yough) and visiting Albany, 21-17, in the season opener.

The local run-blockers met up after the game to exchange pleasantries. Both of them are starters, and two of the larger up-front men in the game.

Holler is 6-foot-2, 306 pounds, Houseman 6-3, 321.

Marshall piled up 413 yards of offense, including 268 passing. Quarterback Cam Fancher was 28 of 35 with a touchdown and was not sacked.

Mercyhurst: The Lakers opened with a 54-12 loss to Ferris State as grad running back Dustin Shoaf (Yough) ran for 40 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.

North Carolina State: Grad safety Robert Kennedy (Jeannette) had two tackles a broke up a pass in the Wolfpack’s 24-14 win over Connecticut in the season opener. He started at nickelback.

Washington & Jefferson: Senior running back Justin Johns (Franklin Regional) had four tackles and a sack as the Presidents clobbered Saint Vincent, 51-0, in the season opener.

Waynesburg: Grad running back Justin Flack (Derry) rushed for three touchdowns in a 39-36 loss to Allegheny in overtime. Flack also had four catches for 45 yards.

Western Michigan: Redshirt sophomore quarterback Jack Salopek (Norwin) completed 18 of 26 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown for the Broncos in a 35-17 win over Saint Francis (Pa.).

William & Mary: Senior safety Marcus Barnes (Jeannette) tallied a team-high 11 tackles in a 34-24 win over Campbell.

Men’s soccer

Duquesne: Sophomore midfielder Anthony DiFalco (Franklin Regional) made his second straight start for the Dukes in a 2-2 tie with Bowling Green.

He played 54 minutes and had a shot on goal.

Saint Vincent: Freshman forward Mattia Speretta scored in the 83rd minute with an assist from sophomore Ethan Bridges as the Bearcats began the season with a 1-0 win over Wilson.

Women’s soccer

Pitt-Greensburg: Junior Sarah Tonkovich and sophomore Kylie Smith (Greensburg Salem) scored goals as the Bobcats opened the year with a 2-0 win over Phoenix of Wilson.

Saint Vincent: Senior Tanisha Grewal scored two goals, and freshman Jordan Kirkwood had a goal and an assist to lead the Bearcats to a 3-0 win over Hiram in their home opener.

Seton Hill: Sophomore midfielder Jessica Molitoris scored on an assist from freshman midfielder Kilee Coatney in the 67th minute as the Griffins began the season with a 1-0 win over Fairmont State.

Westminster: Junior Brooke Horvath (Franklin Regional) banged in a deflection, then added a second score in a 3-1 victory over Lycoming.

It was the fourth brace of Horvath’s career.

Junior Natalie Vilchek (Yough) also had a two-goal game when she connected twice for the Titans in a 2-0 shutout of Juniata.

Men’s lacrosse

Saint Vincent: Joe Conner, who coached at the Division I level, has joined the Bearcats’ staff as an assistant.

Conner spent five seasons as an assistant at Dartmouth after nine years at Bucknell, the last two as an associate head coach.

The Ijamsville, Md. native’s coaching career started with Mount St. Mary’s, his alma mater, where he was on staff for two seasons.

He was an All-American lacrosse player a Urbana High School, where he also was a starting quarterback.

Men’s cross country

Pitt-Greensburg: Sophomore Ethan Barrick finished first at the Westmoreland Invitational with a time of 17 minutes, 6.8 seconds, nearly a minute ahead of second place.

Women’s cross country

Point Park: Senior Allison Plassio (Norwin) finished 16th out of 114 runners at the St. Francis (Pa.) Father Bede Invitational. She crossed the finish line of the 5,000-meter race in 20:34.

Women’s tennis

Pitt-Greensburg: The Bobcats fell to Franciscan in their season opener, 5-4, but not before some personal accomplishments were achieved.

Senior Abigail Rosman became the first UPG player to reach 80 career wins, while senior Amber Sterrett (Derry) stretched her winning streak to 19.

Women’s golf

Westminster: The Titans came in third at the Youngstown State Kickoff in Boardman, Ohio as sophomore Olivia Kana (Greensburg Central Catholic) finished 27th with a 92.