Westmoreland girls soccer notebook: Franklin Regional joins top 5

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, September 13, 2022 | 4:43 PM

Franklin Regional (5-1) is the newest local team to find a spot in the TribLive HSSN rankings.

The team moved into the No. 5 spot in Class 3A.

All of the Panthers’ wins have come via shutout. The have outscored their opponents 14-1.

Franklin Regional has a big test Wednesday night when it hosts Latrobe (2-2-1), which fell from the top five this week.

Southmoreland remains No. 2 and Mt. Pleasant No. 3 in Class 2A. Greensburg Central Catholic dropped a spot, to No. 2, in Class A.

Cernuto update

Southmoreland standout Olivia Cernuto underwent testing Monday night for a lower body injury, and she is awaiting results to determine if she will miss any time.

Cernuto, who has 100 career goals, was injured when she collided with Yough’s Kendalyn Umbel with about 23 minutes to play in Southmoreland’s 2-1 victory.

Cernuto, who has 18 goals this season, had an assist in the win.

Still unbeaten

There were 11 undefeated, untied teams remaining in WPIAL girls soccer through Monday’s games.

They are: North Allegheny (7-0), Bethel Park (6-0), Mars (4-0), Thomas Jefferson (5-0), Plum (4-0), Moon (4-0), Freeport (5-0), Southmoreland (5-0), Mt. Pleasant (4-0), Sewickley Academy (4-0), and Winchester Thurston (2-0).

LV on the shelf

Ligonier Valley postponed back-to-back Section 3-2A games because of a lack of healthy players.

Rams athletic director Joe Skura said the team has been dealing with injuries and illness that has affected a number of players.

He said the illness is not covid related.

Corner kicks

Franklin Regional goalkeeper Aris Lamanna has five clean sheets in six games. … Ligonier Valley goalkeeper Allyson Steffey made 21 saves in a 9-1 loss to Greensburg Salem. … Hempfield has not scored a goal since Oct. 14, 2021. The Lady Spartans have lost 33 straight games. … Greensburg Central Catholic returned from an eight-day layoff to defeat Seton La Salle, 4-1. Riley Kerr and Sara Felder each had two goals. … Norwin has four losses in six games. The Lady Knights have nine losses the last two seasons. They lost a total of nine times from 2018-20.

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

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant, Southmoreland