Westmoreland County boys soccer notes: Belle Vernon, TJ to square off on pitch, too

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, September 22, 2021 | 6:40 PM

Thomas Jefferson at Belle Vernon is the football game with all the sizzle this week in the WPIAL. But the same teams will play in a key boys soccer game Thursday night at Belle Vernon.

The game features two of the top teams in Section 3-3A.

Heading into Wednesday, Thomas Jefferson was 6-1-1 overall and 3-1-1 in section, where it sits alone in third place.

First-place Belle Vernon was coming off its first loss under new coach Al Yeschenko — 3-0 against Elizabeth Forward on Monday — when it faced Uniontown on Wednesday. The Leopards began the week ranked No. 5 in 3A.

No panic at Norwin

Norwin fell flat in its second game of the season — on its home turf, no less — when it fell to No. 2 Seneca Valley, 5-0.

But the third-ranked Knights have quickly regained their form. Norwin won the next five games by a combined score of 23-1, including impressive 3-0 shutouts of Central Catholic and Allderdice.

The Knights host rival Penn-Trafford on Thursday night.

Game postponed

Hempfield was scheduled to host Allderdice on Tuesday, but the game was postponed due to track renovations at Spartan Stadium. Hempfield also had to move its football game Friday to Mt. Lebanon. The soccer game could not be moved to Allderdice because of another scheduled event at its stadium.

Schlessinger makes commitment

Penn-Trafford senior Nathan Schlessinger will play his collegiate soccer at Franklin & Marshall, a Division III program located in Lancaster. Franklin & Marshall is ranked No. 2 in the nation.

Schlessinger, who is playing center back instead of striker this season out of necessity, was recruited to play the latter position at the next level.

The three-year captain and all-section player has 26 career goals and 28 assists. Schlessinger plays cup soccer for the HotSpurs and has 21 goals and 14 assists for the three-time defending champion team.

Jeannette’s buzzer beater

Upstart Jeannette turned some heads with its 3-2 win over Serra Catholic. Turns out, the Jayhawks stunned the Eagles with a last-second goal by sophomore Jared Vincent. Make that a last 0.1-second goal. That was the time left on the clock when Vincent zipped in a shot for a rare socer buzzer beater.

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

Tags: Belle Vernon, Jeannette, Norwin, Penn-Trafford