Westmoreland County girls soccer notebook: Norwin making steady progress

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, September 17, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Norwin sent dangerous shot after dangerous shot at Latrobe goalkeeper Gianna Trunzo, but the first-year netminder either made a terrific save or the ball whizzed by the skin of the post.

The Knights dropped a 1-0 decision to the host Wildcats in Section 1-4A, but the late barrage of shots gave them solace, right?

“No,” Norwin first-year coach Ashley DeVito said. “No, they didn’t at all.”

DeVito was pleased with her team’s effort, but she said a more complete first half would have complemented a much better second half.

“We had to play with desperation,” she said. “But it shouldn’t have been that way. We needed to play a better 80 minutes.”

Still, Norwin is 3-4 overall and 2-1 in section, a vast improvement from last year when the team sat at 2-5 through seven games and lost 5-1 to Latrobe. The Knights lost their first three section games and finished 4-14, 4-10 and missed the WPIAL playoffs for the second straight season.

They fell to 3-5 and 2-2 after a tight, 1-0 loss to rival Penn-Trafford.

“We are 100% moving in the right direction,” DeVito said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the girls. Building a winning culture is hard work. We’re building on the fly sometimes. The girls are trusting the process.”

Norwin has scored 23 goals and allowed 10. The team didn’t reach that many goals last season until mid October.

“It’s exciting to be part of this turnaround,” DeVito said.

Scoring frenzy

Westmoreland County teams have been scoring in bunches lately.

Latrobe, Yough and Mt. Pleasant have 15-goal games.

Through last week’s section games, Mt. Pleasant and Yough were tied for the WPIAL lead with 42 goals each.

Mahan injured

Yes, one injury can change the complexion of the WPIAL title race in Class 2A.

Avonworth star Fiona Mahan is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. The Alabama commit sustained the injury Sept. 1.

With Mahan out, the then-No. 1 Antelopes were upset by Beaver, 1-0. Avonworth has won three straight WPIAL titles.

Mahan was so good, her absence could open the door for other WPIAL contenders.

Mt. Pleasant is one of them.

The Vikings (7-0) moved into the No. 1 spot in this week’s rankings.

Spartans improving

Hempfield shut out Armstrong, 1-0, last week, a win that was significant for a couple of reasons.

For one, it broke a 49-game section losing that dated to Sept. 14 2019, when the Spartans blanked Latrobe, 1-0.

Secondly, it marked the Spartans’ second win of the year. They had not won more than one game in a season since ‘19.

Forfeit and postponement

Jeannette and Greensburg Central Catholic did not play games last Wednesday because of low numbers.

Jeannette had only seven girls (from eight) and had to forfeit to Winchester Thurston.

GCC, meanwhile, was down to nine players (from 11) and postponed its game against Apollo-Ridge.

No. 3-ranked GCC lost to No. 5 Winchester Thurston, 6-0, on Monday. It was the second time the Centurions have been shut out this season. They had 12 players for that game.

GCC is going to play only section games this year.

Jeannette is set to play at GCC on Sept. 25 in their first of two Section 4-A matchups.

Top games

A couple of marquee matchups Wednesday include Mt. Pleasant at Yough in Section 4-2A, while Greensburg Central Catholic visits No. 1 Springdale in a Section 4-A contest between top-five teams.

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

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Jeannette, Latrobe, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Yough