Westmoreland County high school notebook: Jeannette soccer star picks college

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, April 20, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Jeannette soccer star Jordan Taylor will take his goal-scoring prowess to the NCAA Division II level.

The senior forward committed to play at Wheeling (W.Va.), which competes in the Mountain East Conference.

Taylor, a shifty scoring machine since he first took the pitch four years ago, finished his prep career with 162 goals, which ranks third all time in the WPIAL.

As a senior, the Class 2A player of the year had 54 goals to lead the WPIAL. That included an eight-goal game against Leechburg.

Taylor’s right-hand man, senior Austin Emery, will play his college soccer at Division III La Roche.

Emery, a talented goal-scorer and playmaker in his own right, also kicked for the football team.

Rankin to La Roche

Franklin Regional senior basketball standout Cooper Rankin announced he will play his college ball at La Roche. The 6-foot point guard for the WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A runner-up Panthers (27-4) averaged 14.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.7 steals a game this season.

Nice assist

The Greater Latrobe Partners in Education Foundation will receive a $30,000 donation from the district’s Ferguson and Sobota families. The donation will go to the Wildcats’ boys and girls basketball programs.

100 for Mazzoni

Greensburg Salem senior lacrosse player Jade Mazzoni reached a milestone Thursday in a game at Knoch. Mazzoni scored the 100th goal of her career.

Volleyball players of week

Again, two county players were named players of the week by the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association.

Hempfield senior middle hitter Josh Reilly received accolades in Class 3A, and Luke Fiori, a junior outside hitter from Latrobe, picked up Class 2A honors.

In the association’s rankings, Norwin is holding on to the No. 3 spot in 3A, and Penn-Trafford is No. 4.

Norwin edged out the Warriors in a tight section match last week 3-2.

More recruiting

• Tyler Freas, the top scorer this season for the Penn-Trafford basketball team, announced a verbal commitment to Pitt-Greensburg. Freas, a 6-2 combo guard, averaged 16.1 points and made 52 3-pointers for the Warriors.

• Ligonier Valley senior Lyla Barr will play college basketball at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

Barr has averaged 9.0 points and 8.0 rebounds a game over the last two seasons for the Rams. She will major in biomedical engineering.

• Franklin Regional wrestler Troy McClelland will continue his career at Seton Hill. The 189-pounder went 30-14 this season and placed fourth in his section. McClelland, who also competed at 215 pounds, had 55 career wins.

• Derry senior Nate Barkley will wrestle at Saint Vincent. Barkley competed at 160 pounds this season and finished with a record of 31-8. He was 72-48 in his career, wrestling at 189 and 172 in his first three seasons.

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

Tags: Franklin Regional, Jeannette, Ligonier Valley, Norwin, Penn-Trafford