After playoff season, Norwin girls hope to keep momentum rolling

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, August 23, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Norwin returned to the WPIAL girls soccer playoffs last season and nearly advanced out of the first round, falling to No. 12 seed Mt. Lebanon, 1-0, on penalty kicks (4-3).

The fifth-seeded Knights finished 10-8-1, winning seven of their final 10 games to return to the Class 4A postseason after two years away.

The upswing has the Knights thinking bigger this year.

Backed by a sturdy back line, a defensive-minded team could be more of a factor in the WPIAL’s largest class – like old times.

Bolstering the defense with a scoring boost, depth and input from underclassmen could be the key.

“Last year, we were creating team culture and building confidence,” second-year coach Ashley DeVito said. “We have an established identity now, so I think the tenacity to goal this year will be greatly improved and ultimately will allow us to get better results.”

Several key players return to lead the defense. They include senior goalkeeper Rebecca Kostrobala, senior defenders Cameryn Reed, Alexa Kobus and Bella Buscemi, junior defender Siena Ali and senior defensive midfielder Nicole Bown.

Norwin grew accustomed to playing in close games. It had five 1-0 losses and another 2-1 defeat.

“These are games that could’ve gone either way, but we were really struggling to score,” DeVito said. “My expectation this year is that we win those tight games.”

DeVito said she hopes to grow the attacking third.

“I believe that we’re going to be able to get some of those results that we left on the table a year ago because of the foundation we’ve set,” she said.

Norwin has an abundance of talent in its sophomore and freshmen classes.

Key returning sophomores include Tatum Casper, Neeve Graham and Neilah Schade, all of whom showed they could handle big-game pressure as freshmen.

“Similar to last season, I have no intentions of riding a handful of girls into a competitive, playoff position,” DeVito said. “It is going to take all of us. I plan to go deep into the roster to keep girls healthy and strong again. I plan to have fresh legs running at our opponents with pace.”

DeVito called her freshmen class “phenomenal.”

“There are several girls in the group that have the opportunity to play a significant role,” the coach said. “The preseason and scrimmages are going to be very telling for how exactly that is going to work out, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a handful of freshmen contributing to the varsity squad this year.”

DeVito believes her second season has the potential to overshadow the first.

“My biggest takeaway from year one was that these girls are so talented and capable of doing so many incredible things,” DeVito said. “I really believe they just needed some help finding it within themselves. They had to learn how to create a culture of winning. Winning is not a coincidence. I tell the girls all the time that it’s not going to just happen by accident.

“I really believe we’ve learned that and that we’re willing to put the work in to make the winning happen.”

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

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