Franklin Regional boys soccer team tops Penn-Trafford in early season section showdown

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, August 29, 2024 | 11:08 PM

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A matchup of first-year coaches in Section 3-3A boys soccer went to Franklin Regional’s Nick White, whose Panthers rang up three second-half goals to pull past Ryan Hankey’s Penn-Trafford team, 3-1, in the section opener Thursday night in Harrison City.

“P-T came out strong, and they were really strong in the back,” said White, who spent a decade as an assistant at Fox Chapel. “We were just OK in the first half. We needed to play with more urgency in the second half and move the ball more, and it worked out.”

Senior Danny Christafano, junior Cruise Lamanna and senior Joey Bayne scored for No. 2 Franklin Regional (1-1, 1-0), which was supposed to open the section schedule earlier in the week against Washington, but the Prexies are not fielding a team, a last-minute decision that will leave section teams two games short.

“We used the extra time to train,” White said.

Penn-Trafford (1-1, 0-1), meantime, also fell victim to an 11th-hour change Tuesday when Allderdice requested a sudden postponement, reportedly because of the heat.

The schedule brought the teams together earlier than they had hoped, preparation-wise, but the Panthers were sharper down the stretch against a young Warriors team that played only two seniors.

“We were on our heels a little bit,” said Hankey, who was the head coach at Penn Hills for eight years. “(Franklin Regional) is so dynamic up top. We weathered the storm, but we weren’t connected in the midfield. Our defense went into survival mode.

“We had hoped to have (a section game) in already. We played one game against Hempfield. They played Norwin.”

The Panthers, who rebounded from a 2-0 loss to Norwin last Saturday, finally broke through with a goal by Christafano in the 60th minute. His 25-yard shot had arc to it and was too high for Warriors junior goalkeeper Jose Chaves.

The assist was credited to sophomore Jovan Sankoorikal.

“Once Danny got the first one, things opened up a little more,” White said. “We started to find more success.”

Less than five minutes later, it was 2-0. Lamanna took a cross from Bayne near post and finished in front.

Quickly, it was a three-goal game.

Chaves received a yellow card when he challenged Bayne on a one-on-one and was replaced by sophomore Santino Caruso, whose first shot attempt of the night was a penalty kick.

Bayne converted to make it 3-0 with about 12 minutes remaining.

“I preached for our guys to keep working to get shots,” Hankey said. “We had some young guys play pretty well against a good team.”

Senior Chad Pusateri made sure the Warriors didn’t get shut out when he sent a long free kick into the cage in the 69th minute. Penn-Trafford started the year with a 9-1 win over Hempfield.

Senior J.J. Porter and junior Angelo Mastroianni are back to form after ACL injuries last year for P-T, and freshman Trevor Porter kept pace with the skilled Bayne.

Franklin Regional outshot the Warriors, 15-4, on a night when corner kicks were just about equal.

“We needed to start section this way,” White said. “Our response, that is something we need to keep working at.”

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

Tags: Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford