Soccer stars Anthony DiFalco, Hannah Stuck earn All-America honors; All-region teams also announced
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Wednesday, December 4, 2019 | 1:40 PM
Franklin Regional’s Anthony DiFalco works against West Allegheny’s Caleb Miller during the boys WPIAL Class AAA championship game against West Allegheny Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019, at Highmark Stadium.
Anthony DiFalco was in biology class Wednesday morning when his soccer coach at Franklin Regional, Rand Hudson, entered the classroom and interrupted the session.
The coach came bearing good news.
Forget biology. This was more like AP soccer.
DiFalco, a sophomore forward, was selected as a United Soccer Coaches Region II All-American.
He was one of two WPIAL players selected for one of the highest honors in high school soccer, joining Peters Township senior midfielder Hannah Stuck.
Great reason to interrupt Biology class. FR soccer player Anthony DiFalco receiving awesome news from Head Coach Rand Hudson. pic.twitter.com/RfIGpgr6rQ
— FR Panther Sports (@FRPantherSports) December 4, 2019
DiFalco, who also was an all-state and All-WPIAL player, scored 30 goals and delivered 14 assists for the Panthers (21-1-1), who won their second straight WPIAL Class AAA championship and reached the PIAA semifinals.
He is Franklin Regional’s first all-American soccer player.
Stuck, a Bucknell commit who also pulled in all-state and All-WPIAL accolades, had 24 goals and 20 assists for Peters Township, which made the WPIAL Class AAAA semifinals.
She had 89 goals and 68 assists in her career. Stuck, who carries a 4.8 grade-point average, was a four-time All-WPIAL and two-time all-state player.
The USC All-Region II East teams also were announced and the boys team includes DiFalco and senior forwards Luke Peperak of Connellsville and Dom Reiter of Quaker Valley.
WPIAL girls all-region selections are Stuck, Mars junior midfielder Ellie Coffield and North Allegheny junior forward Sarah Schupansky. The latter two are Pitt recruits.
???????? Congrats to HANNAH STUCK for being named NATIONAL ALL-AMERICAN!! ????????
Only the 2nd player to achieve this in program history ????
Best wishes for continued success on the pitch at Bucknell University!! @Bucknell_WSOC pic.twitter.com/YBMZUFLQuN
— PT GIRLS SOCCER (@PTGIRLSSOCCER) December 3, 2019
Full All-American, all-region teams:
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
Tags: Connellsville, Franklin Regional, Mars, North Allegheny, Peters Township, Quaker Valley
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