Westmoreland high school week ahead: Week of Aug. 27, 2018

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, August 26, 2018 | 3:54 PM

Another WPIAL fall sports season will begin across the board this weekend as soccer, girls volleyball, cross country and field hockey join football, golf and tennis, which already are underway.

Here is a glance at the week ahead in Westmoreland high school sports:

FRIDAY Football

While a number of WPIAL teams opened the season in Week Zero, several others will begin play this week.

That includes Franklin Regional, which will host neighboring Plum in the Class 5A Big East Conference.

Other local conference games: North Allegheny at Norwin, Penn-Trafford at Gateway, Trinity at Greensburg Salem, Yough at Uniontown, Southmoreland at Frazier, Monessen at California, Jeannette at Leechburg and Riverview at Greensburg Central Catholic.

North Allegheny is ranked No. 2 in Class 6A, and Norwin is No. 4.

Penn-Trafford/Gateway is a rematch of last year’s WPIAL Class 5A championship. Gateway is No. 1 in 5A.

Nonconference games have Ambridge at Belle Vernon, Hopewell at Mt. Pleasant and Latrobe at Penn Hills.

Girls soccer

Ligonier Valley will be the first county team to take to the pitch with its season opener against the host team at the Indiana tournament.

Girls volleyball

Greensburg Central Catholic at Hempfield is a quality opener to watch, and Norwin visits Gateway.

SATURDAY Football

Hempfield plays a rare Saturday afternoon game with a 1 p.m. kickoff at Class 6A No. 1-ranked Pine-Richland.

Boys soccer

The season is here again, and county teams will compete in kickoff tournaments. Belle Vernon is hosting four teams in the Paul Sasko Tournament and will face West Mifflin in the opening game at 8 a.m.

Hempfield also has a home tournament and will take on Greensburg Salem at 1 p.m., and Penn-Trafford goes to the Peters Township tournament to play the host Indians at 4 p.m.

Girls soccer

Season openers include: Franklin Regional at Elizabeth Forward (10 a.m.), Jeannette at Mt. Pleasant (10 a.m.), Trinity at Greensburg Salem (10 a.m.), Penn-Trafford at Fox Chapel (10 a.m.), West Mifflin vs. Belle Vernon in the Paul Sasko Tournament (11:15 a.m.), Latrobe at Gateway (11:15 a.m.), and Monessen at McKeesport (noon).

Girls volleyball

Franklin Regional will host the sixth annual Lady Panthers Invitational.

—Bill Beckner Jr.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

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