Westmoreland girls soccer notebook: Penn-Trafford rolling through Class 4A

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, September 24, 2024 | 8:03 PM

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So much for that difficult transition going from Class 3A to 4A.

Penn-Trafford has handled it with relative ease.

The Lady Warriors (8-3, 5-0) began the week a game ahead of Latrobe in Section 1. They host Latrobe on Wednesday night.

The plan for coach Jimmy Mastroianni was to blend a lineup with seniors — he has nine of them — with a crop of budding underclassmen.

Here’s a snapshot of that working: senior Alexis Brown, a Cal (Pa.) commit has been just as effective as talented freshman Tori Yurt, with both providing offense.

Senior goalkeeper Rease Solomon, a Robert Morris recruit, has been steady between the pipes.

Mastroianni was concerned how his team would adjust to the pace of play in 4A, but the Warriors have taken to it in stride.

“With the realignment, there are a lot of new faces, but there are also some familiar ones as well,” Mastroianni said. “It will be difficult, for sure, playing up in Quad-A. It’s the next step for our program, and I’m confident our girls will step up to the challenge.”

Jury duty

Hempfield had a surprise waiting for defender Jessi Jury on senior night.

Her brother, Grant Jury, is a U.S. Marine and was deployed to Japan so he could not attend her game Monday.

He left a video message for his sister, but the team kept it a surprise until senior night and played it for her on the scoreboard.

“Obviously, it was very emotional for Jessi and her family,” Hempfield coach Jim Jones said. “Jessi chose to not have an escort (Monday night) in honor of her brother.

“It was emotional for me, as well. I was in the U.S. Army, so honoring our military and veterans is always near and dear to my heart.”

Jeannette wins

Two of the smallest-rostered teams in the WPIAL met Monday in New Kensington. Jeannette and Valley each played with seven girls.

Jeannette won 3-0 for its first victory of the season to snap an eight-game losing streak.

Weaver on point

Franklin Regional’s Reilly Weaver is emerging as one of the team’s go-to scorers. The senior forward has seven goals for the Panthers, who took a four-game winning streak into Monday’s showdown with Section 4-3A rival Plum.

Eden Williams, an IUP commit, also has seven goals.

Just for fun

Mt. Pleasant knows when to get serious, but the Lady Vikings also like to keep practices loose.

Last week, a social media post showed “Team Italy coming in with the big World Cup win.”

The team likes to divide into pairs. If a team scores, it goes to the next round. Those that don’t score sit out.

“You have to shout your team name before your shot,” coach Rich Garland said. “They choose countries as their team names.”

Top games

The best local game Wednesday night is Latrobe (4-2-1, 4-1) at Penn-Trafford (8-3, 5-0) in a Section 1-4A rematch from earlier in the season.

Penn-Trafford has a one-game lead for first place.

Penn-Trafford won, 3-2, as Yurt scored two goals.

Other area games to watch include Hempfield at Norwin, Kiski Area at Franklin Regional, Indiana at Greensburg Salem, South Park at Belle Vernon, Deer Lakes at Yough and Jeannette at Greensburg Central Catholic.

Corner kicks

Scott Arnold recently won his 50th game as the coach at Franklin Regional. … Mt. Pleasant’s Adi Gardner will play college soccer at Waynesburg. … Yough is second in the WPIAL in goals with 60. … There are just more than two weeks remaining in the regular season.

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

Tags: Belle Vernon, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Latrobe, Mt. Pleasant, Penn-Trafford