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Agostoni’s highlight-reel goals carry Latrobe to boys soccer win over Franklin Regional

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Thursday, September 12, 2024 | 10:33 PM

The soccer ball left Latrobe defender Brady Kring’s foot and sailed high into the night sky like a punt at Panther Stadium.

When it came down, it pinged off a Franklin Regional defender’s shoulder and arrived at the feet of Roman Agostoni, who suddenly became the one in a 2-on-1.

The Latrobe forward then delivered the best goal of his high school career.

Agostoni turned, squared up the best he could on the run and sent a sizzling left-footed shot into the net from 30 yards away for his second goal of the night. The go-ahead wonder strike propelled the first-place Wildcats to a 2-1 victory over No. 2 Franklin Regional in a Section 3-3A game Thursday night in Murrysville.

“I can’t wait to watch that one back on film,” Latrobe coach Jake Rice said. “That was one of the best goals I’ve ever seen.”

Latrobe (5-1, 5-0) has won five straight games and now has a three-game winning streak against Franklin Regional (4-2, 3-1) dating to last season.

The Panthers saw a four-game winning streak end.

Agostoni also scored on a free kick in the first half before Franklin Regional tied it on a Joey Bayne goal early in the second half.

Kring went from clearing the ball to delivering an arcing assist to Agostoni, who has 11 goals this season and 41 for his career.

There hadn’t been a goal like that at Franklin Regional since the Anthony DiFalco era.

“The ball came to me, and I spun to the left,” Agostoni said. “I practice (shooting) with both feet. I saw it line up at the back of the net. Sometimes, when you hit it, you just know it’s going in.

“There was no way we were going to overtime.”

What followed Agostoni’s highlight goal might have been equally impressive. Goalkeeper Reece DiCasolo, who made nine saves, prevented the Panthers from landing a second equalizer with 3 minutes, 30 seconds to play.

Jovan Sankoorikal sent a straight-on header toward DiCasolo, who stretched to his right and made a kick save to preserve the one-goal edge.

“I thought it was going in, but Reece made a great play,” Agostoni said.

DiCasolo also had an impressive kick save in the first half on an attempt by Bayne.

“Reece made some great saves,” Rice said. “We didn’t play our best tonight, but we found a way to win. Our back line was good again.”

Franklin Regional peppered DiCasolo, especially in the first half. But Latrobe, despite the tilted field, caught a break and took advantage of it when Agostoni set up for a free kick from 18 yards, just outside the left hash. He sent his shot right upper 90 past Walker.

His first goal, in the 31st minute, broke the ice for the Wildcats.

“We know Franklin is a good team, but we weren’t nervous playing them,” Agostoni said. “They were the first legit team we played all season.”

Bayne scored in the 54th minute when he took a feed from Thomas Bridges and beat two defenders to make it 1-1.

The Panthers piled on more chances after that but could not break through a second time.

“Latrobe got two amazing goals from a great player,” Franklin Regional coach Nick White said. “On the free kick, we added people, and he still got around our wall. There was one place to put that ball, and he put it there.

“The second goal, he played it well. Left-foot volley and a rocket. Our kids defended hard, and we did a lot of good things tonight. Tip your cap to Latrobe. Their keeper made a bunch of saves.”

Franklin Regional played two goalkeepers, Noah Walker in the first half and Emerson Bush in the second. Walker has a lingering leg injury that flared up.

White said Walker was a game-time decision.

Bayne sat the final 10-plus minutes with cramps.

Agostoni and Bayne will meet again Friday night back at Panther Stadium. They are kickers for their respective football teams.

Latrobe visits Franklin Regional at 7 p.m. in the Big East Conference opener.

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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