Franklin Regional notebook: Girls soccer team falls painfully short of semis

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, November 6, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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Franklin Regional girls soccer coach Scott Arnold gathered his team together after a WPIAL 3A quarterfinal playoff game that was as emotionally draining as it was physically exhausting.

Then, he tried to put a 2-1 shootout loss to South Fayette into perspective.

“Strong emotions lead to strong memories,” Arnold said. “The highs and lows, which we’ve had a lot of this year … we won at their place in overtime and we won here against Gateway and that won us the section. So I told them, when they’re older, they’ll have all these memories that they can still talk to each other about.”

Franklin Regional finished 14-4-1 but could not advance to the semifinals for the first time.

Panthers sophomore keeper Aris Lamanna dueled with South Fayette goalkeeper Kaylee Hendricks as the Lions won in six rounds of penalty kicks, 5-4.

South Fayette lost to the Panthers in last year’s first round, and then again in regular-season play this year.

Morgan Walters scored for Franklin Regional to tie it 1-1 in the 55th minute.

Franklin Regional’s shootout goals were scored by Abby Paterline, Shaeley Reichbaum, Reilly Weaver and Abby Bogler.

Franklin Regional senior Sydney Lindeman and Lamanna were tabbed as All-WPIAL selections.

All-state

Fourteen WPIAL players were announced Friday as Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association all-state selections.

The picks include Franklin Regional senior Anthony DiFalco, Seneca Valley senior Nathan Prex and junior Beaux Lizewski, Butler senior Landon Mohney, Peters Township senior Andrew Massucci, Charleroi senior Eben McIntyre, senior Sam Farner of Shady Side Academy, senior Luke Kolankowski of Plum, North Allegheny senior Evan Anderson, senior Rowan Kriebel of Quaker Valley, Norwin senior Caleb Yuricha, senior Preston Cecotti of South Park, senior Kalala Iraqi of Brashear and senior AJ Getsy of Thomas Jefferson.

DiFalco has made the list three times, while Mohney, Massucci, McIntyre and Farner are two-time selections.

DiFalco, who had 30 goals and 25 assists this season and had 117 career goals, led Franklin Regional to the WPIAL 3A semis for the fourth straight season.

McIntyre, who had a WPIAL-best 70 goals this year and 168 for his career, helped the Cougars reach the 2A semifinals. He recently committed to Pitt.

Panthers stay unbeaten

The Franklin Regional hockey team moved to 3-0 with a 6-1 win over Latrobe. Matt Rutkowski scored two goals, while Zach Abdallah added a goal and two assists and Zach Zeto, Dan Rafferty and Luke Beatty had a goal apiece. Nolan Shilling made 23 saves for the Panthers.

College scene

Football

• John Carroll: Nate Leopold (Franklin Regional), a senior defensive back, had six tackles and a pass breakup as the Blue Streaks blew past Wilmington, 50-7.

Men’s soccer

• Grove City: Freshman defender Luke Kimmich (Franklin Regional) registered a career high two assists as the Wolverines finished the regular season with a 6-1 victory over Saint Vincent. The win secured the top seed in the PAC Tournament for GCC (9-8, 7-2).

Women’s swimming

• Westminster: Junior Baylee Horvath (Franklin Regional) won the 50-yard freestyle in 26.22 seconds as the Titans downed Washington & Jefferson, 152-136.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional