Westmoreland high school notebook: GCC interim coach Guy breaks ice

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Friday, August 16, 2019 | 8:52 PM

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Bri Guy met with her Greensburg Central Catholic girls soccer players for the first time on a sizzling and muggy Thursday morning in Carbon.

It was hot, yes, but this wasn’t an exercise in heat acclimatization. This was a different type of adapting.

It was a new coach getting to know her personnel: their names, how fast they move, how well they listen.

A bonus was that it also was picture day, so Guy could put names to faces and faces to names.

Barely out of college and still waiting for a tour of the high school, Guy is taking over the coaching duties on an interim basis for Ashley Davis, who had a baby this week and will not be with team for an extended period of time.

When Davis returns, Guy will be her assistant.

“I just want to keep up with what Ashley has done here,” said Guy, 23, who recently graduated from St. Francis (Pa.), where she played soccer after a notable high school career at Woodland Hills. “The vibe I have sensed is that she has not had a lot of help (with assistants), so hopefully I can bring some of my knowledge and we can work well together.”

Guy, who works overnight shifts as a nursing assistant and lives in Swissvale, was a solid defender when she played. But she does not plan to show partiality to that side of the ball.

She also has coaching experience with Century Soccer and Barbarians FC. She played with former GCC standout Sarah Ward, a connection that led to her name being brought up as a possible fill-in for Davis.

“Not altogether,” she said. “But defense is the most important part. You can score a million goals, but if you have that day when you don’t play defense, things can fall through the cracks.”

The idea is for Guy to keep the program among the elite in WPIAL Class A.

GCC has made the WPIAL playoffs 21 straight years and has posted double-digit wins in every one of them.

The team finished 12-4 last season and lost in the WPIAL Class A semifinals. It did not make the PIAA playoffs for the first time since 2010.

Ten starters return including senior captains Brenna Springer and Samantha Nemeth and sophomore Tatum Gretz.

Springer is committed to Akron, Gretz to Villanova and Nemeth to IUP.

Scrimmage time

A number of area football teams will take part in scrimmages Saturday around the WPIAL.

The scrimmages mark the end of the first week of training camp. Traditionally, teams had two scrimmages, but the second wave of exhibitions were replaced by Week Zero — season-opening games that count toward records — in 2016.

Next Friday is Week Zero, and 11 Westmoreland teams will start the season.

Saturday’s local scrimmages begin at 10 a.m. The schedule is as follows: Belle Vernon at Gateway; Butler at Kiski Area; Derry at Greensburg Central Catholic; East Allegheny at Burrell (11 a.m.); Franklin Regional at Norwin; Jeannette at Valley; Latrobe at Greensburg Salem; Monessen at Frazier; Mt. Pleasant at Indiana; Penn-Trafford at Hempfield (9 a.m.); Southmoreland at Brentwood; Yough at Burgettstown; and Ligonier Valley at Berlin Brothersvalley.

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, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Jeannette, Latrobe, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Woodland Hills