High school notebook: Norwin’s Harding expected to miss 12 weeks of soccer season

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, September 9, 2017 | 9:18 PM

Previous Next

Previous Next

Norwin boys soccer was dealt a crushing blow in its second game of the season but managed to keep its balance in spite of an injury to its best player.

Senior forward and Penn State recruit Anthony Harding broke his foot about halfway into the game against host Seneca Valley at the Intersection Kickoff tournament.

Norwin (2-1-1, 1-0) won its opener with a healthy Harding, 3-1 over Baldwin. It tied Seneca Valley, 2-2, and won the tournament title.

Three days later, the Knights nearly upset No. 1 North Allegheny before falling 4-3. North Allegheny scored on a penalty kick with a minute left.

“Two penalty kicks were given to them; both handballs,” Norwin coach Scott Schuchert said. “We definitely deserved to win. What is most impressive is how we did it without Anthony.”

With Harding gone, Norwin has only one senior starter. Schuchert said Harding is out for 12 weeks.

Norwin shut out Hempfield, 2-0, on Thursday.

Seton Hill makes offers

Seton Hill had a busy Thursday, extending scholarship offers to several local football players:

Penn-Trafford senior lineman Will Mayr (6-foot-2, 250 pounds), Greensburg Salem senior quarterback/linebacker Jake Hoyle (6-1, 205) and Latrobe senior quarterback/linebacker Jason Armstrong (6-2, 220).

The offer is the first for Mayr and Hoyle, while Armstrong also has one from Millersville, another PSAC school.

Seton Hill also offered a scholarship to Fox Chapel senior Jesse Cohen, a 6-5, 245-pound lineman.

Norwin No. 1

The Norwin girls soccer team had not played a game yet this season when it was bumped to No. 1 in the Top Drawer Soccer national rankings.

The two-time defending WPIAL champions opened the season Wednesday night with a 2-0 win at Bethel Park.

Norwin recently was ranked No. 2 — after vaulting from No. 8. But the previous No. 1, Penn (Ind.), tied No. 25 Carmel (Ind.), 1-1.

Penn had played nine games and was 8-0-1 when Norwin leapfrogged it.

Norwin returns seven starters and has nine players committed to play in college.

Nearing Mars' streak

The Greensburg Central Catholic girls soccer team has won 84 consecutive section games dating to the 2010 season, when it lost to Springdale. That means the Centurions need only two more wins to break Mars' streak of 85, a streak that ended last season with a 2-1 loss to Franklin Regional.

Mars' streak is believed to be a WPIAL record.

GCC hosts Serra Catholic on Monday and Shady Side Academy on Wednesday.

WCCA golf

The second annual Westmoreland County Coaches Association girls golf championship will be 12:30 p.m. Monday at Hannastown Golf Club.

The tournament is nine holes.

Last year, Olivia Zambruno of Greensburg Central Catholic won the WCCA title with a 4-under-par 30 at Glengarry Golf Links. She made five birdies.

Her sister, Abby, a junior at GCC, is the favorite this year. She finished second last year with a 1-under 33.

Penn-Trafford's Haley Pearsol, now a junior, made a hole-in-one in last season's tournament. She shot 43 to finish 16th.

Other players to watch Monday include Hempfield's Taylor Short, GCC's Olivia Stawovy and Franklin Regional's Jocelyn Behr.

The 13th annual WCCA boys golf tournament will be 9 a.m. Thursday at Latrobe Elks. That event is 18 holes.

Franklin Regional junior Palmer Jackson is the defending champion. He shot a tournament-record 2-under 70 to edge Hempfield senior Andrew Thomas.

Latrobe junior Brady Pevarnik is another player to watch. He finished tied for third last year (73).

Franklin Regional won the team title in 2016. Belle Vernon was second.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Latrobe, Norwin, Penn-Trafford