Westmoreland County girls soccer notebook: Quality over quantity works for Latrobe

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, September 30, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Soccer teams in the WPIAL’s largest classification generally are not supposed to have problems with depth.

Benches are expected to be deep, and fresh lineups are meant to be common.

Not at Latrobe.

The girls soccer Wildcats are making their way through another season in Class 4A with only 18 players. How does that compare to other teams in their section? Norwin has gone 17 deep in games. Penn-Trafford, when healthy, also can stretch well beyond the first 11.

But the Wildcats (6-5, 5-2) are making it work. With a 1-0 win over Penn-Trafford, they not only earned a section split with the Warriors but also moved into a tie with them for second place.

“We have good players and that should be what matters, not our depth,” junior midfielder Emerson Shine said.

Latrobe coach Jamie Morrison-Campbell said the team’s stamina comes down to workrate, possession and defending. The Wildcats have splash players like Shine and senior Annalyse Bauer, but relying on sprint-outs and breakaways to score can wear down a thin team.

“We have moved some girls around, which forces other teams to make adjustments,” Morrison-Campbell said.

There are only four seniors on the roster in Bauer, defender Mackenzie Kubistek, goalkeeper Gianna Trunzo and midfielder Gabby Cunningham, and just two juniors in defender Alexa Yurko and Shine.

That leaves a bunch of underclassmen — five sophomores and eight freshmen — to learn in the fire in which they were thrown.

“A lot of young players have stepped in,” Morrison-Campbell said. “Every game, we see more positives with them. Some of our freshmen are still ripe and finding their roles.”

Three freshmen, the coach said, are playing key roles in Ella Plundo, Maddie Silvis and Vivia Brunton.

Latrobe will put its sparse rotation to the test against Section 1-leading and No.-5 ranked Norwin again Wednesday in Latrobe.

Norwin (8-2, 6-0) won the first meeting, 3-1.

Playoffs approaching

Eight county teams have secured WPIAL playoff spots with just more than two weeks left in the regular season.

Norwin (9-2), Penn-Trafford (7-5-1) and Latrobe (6-5) in Class 4A, Franklin Regional (9-3) in 3A and Mt. Pleasant (10-3-1), Southmoreland (6-6-1), Yough (6-6) and Burrell (8-3-1) in 2A have qualified so far.

The WPIAL is scheduled to announce playoff pairings Oct. 15, and the tournaments could begin Oct. 18.

Trunzo commits

Gianna Trunzo has only been a goalkeeper for a couple of seasons, but she is primed to play college soccer.

Trunzo will continue her playing career at Chatham.

She is a Riverhounds Academy player.

BVA fundraiser

Belle Vernon continued its yearly mission to fund raise for causes during the season.

Coach Tracy Lovett announced the team will donate $350 to the Moe Rosensteel Scholarship Foundation, $200 to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and $305 to the Boomer Esiason Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis.

The team also volunteered at a Cycle For Life event to raise awareness for Cystic Fibrosis.

Corner kicks

Nine of 11 county games Monday ended in shutouts. … Franklin Regional’s Allyssa Velasquez is up to 15 goals for the season, the most by a player in a season in coach Scott Arnold’s six-year tenure. … Penn-Trafford leads all of Class 4A with 52 goals. … Greensburg Central Catholic has five goals in six games. The Centurions had nine goals after two games last season. GCC is trying to extend its string of WPIAL playoff appearances to 28. … Norwin is nearing its first section title since 2019.

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

Tags: Belle Vernon, Franklin Regional, Latrobe, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Penn-Trafford