High school notebook: WPIAL teams dot regional soccer rankings

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, August 24, 2019 | 4:54 PM

TopDrawerSoccer.com released its fall high school rankings and while no WPIAL teams are ranked nationally, several district teams made the regional and state rankings.

The highest-ranked team from the WPIAL is the Seneca Valley girls, who check in at No. 10 in the Mid-Atlantic Region, AND Peters Township is just behind at No. 12.

Seneca Valley won the WPIAL Class 4A title, and Peters Township was the runner-up and reached the PIAA semifinals.

The boys Mid-Atlantic Region rankings show West Allegheny at No. 17 and Franklin Regional is No. 20.

Franklin Regional won the WPIAL championship over West Allegheny before West Allegheny went on to win the PIAA title.

The website’s Pennsylvania rankings have five WPIAL teams: the Seneca Valley girls (No. 4), Peters Township girls (No. 5) and Norwin girls (No. 9); and the West Allegheny (No. 5) and Franklin Regional (No. 7) boys.

WCCA events

The Westmoreland County Coaches Association has set its fall schedule.

The girls golf championship will be Sept. 4 at Champion Lakes Golf Course. It will be a nine-hole event.

The boys golf championship, meanwhile, will be Sept. 12​ at Latrobe Elks Golf Club. The final event of the season will be the cross country championships Oct. 9 at a site to be announced.

Looking up to the best

Greensburg Central Catholic sophomore Tatum Gretz looks to be the next high-profile goal-scorer in a program that has produced many of them.

Gretz, already committed to Villanova, scored 31 goals last season as a freshman. She understands the rich history of soccer talent and has looked up to the Centurions’ top performers.

“I always looked up to Bailey Cartwright; we’re both from Connellsville,” Gretz said. “I hope to beat her records. But there is a long list of GCC players that I looked up to, including Frannie Crouse, and Sarah and Sidney Ward, too.”

Cartwright, who plays at Notre Dame, has PIAA and WPIAL records for career goals (230) and assists (159).

Paulone coaching

Former Jeannette quarterback Tom Paulone​ is back in the WPIAL — as a coach.

Paulone, who played at Waynesburg, has joined the staff at Chartiers Valley. He will coach quarterbacks.

Couples night

Norwin boys soccer coach Scott Schuchert made a couple of additions to his staff, including bringing his wife on board. Caitlin (Martz) Schuchert coached the Plum girls for five years. The couple coached four years together with a Penns Forest Cup team and three years with a Century Club team.

“Some may say I’m crazy coaching alongside my spouse,” said Scott Schuchert, who is entering his eighth season as Norwin’s coach. “But I consider it lucky. She seems happy to flip the page and start the next challenge, so it should be a lot of fun.”

Scott Schuchert’s father, Rege, also is a member of the coaching staff. He is in his third season.

The Schuchert name runs deep in the soccer programs at Norwin. Scott’s sister and cousins played for the Knights and his uncle, Ron Schuchert, coached the girls team to back-to-back WPIAL titles in 1996 and ‘97, along with a PIAA title.

“Along with my dad, my uncle is my mentor,” Scott Schuchert said.

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