Westmoreland County boys soccer notebook: Latrobe looking part of contender

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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 loss is what turned some heads. They only lost 2-1 to Plum, the No. 4 team in 3A.

“Latrobe was very good and organized against us,” said Plum coach Raf Kolankowski, who attended Greensburg Central Catholic. “They have some players that are very skilled. Big difference from last year. We were very fortunate and lucky to walk away with a victory.”

The Wildcats, who had played only section games, were at 3-1 and tied for second in the section with Franklin Regional.

Latrobe finished 6-10 last season (5-9 in section) and missed the WPIAL playoffs.

21-0?

Jeannette wasn’t trying to run up the score last weekend when it trounced Valley, 21-0. First-year coach Steve Pons swears it.

With a light roster — Jeannette doesn’t have enough to field a junior varsity team — starters had to play most of the match.

“We never look to run the score up on an opponent, nor do we teach it,” he said. “I did what I could.”

Jordan Taylor had seven goals, Jared Vincent added four and Austin Emery had a hat trick as nine Jayhawks found the net.

“We only have two subs,” Pons said.

Still, Jeannette made extra passes and moved players around, putting Taylor and Emery on defense in the second half. Valley had one own goal.

Some social media buzz suggested it is games like this that cry out for a mercy rule, but many people don’t realize there is one already.

When a team takes a seven-goal lead in the second half, a running clock commences.

Jeannette, which followed with a 14-0 win over Derry, leads the WPIAL with 54 goals.

Taylor has 18.

Section battles

A key early season section game will be Thursday at “The Beach.”

Belle Vernon (6-1, 5-0) will host the team it is tied for first place with, Mt. Pleasant (5-1, 5-0), in Section 2-2A.

Belle Vernon has 35 goals and has allowed seven. Mt. Pleasant has outscored its opponents 25-3.

Another game to watch is in Section 1-A where Greensburg Central Catholic (2-3, 2-1) visits No. 1 Charleroi (8-0, 4-0) in a rematch of last year’s WPIAL quarterfinal won by Charleroi when GCC was the top seed.

The Cougars pulled a 3-2 upset.

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

Tags: Belle Vernon, Jeannette, Latrobe, Mt. Pleasant