Westmoreland County boys soccer notebook: Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford set for high-stakes clash

Franklin Regional and Penn-Trafford are primed to meet Thursday with first place on the line in Section 1-3A.

The teams began the week tied at the top with 4-0 records.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Warrior Stadium in Harrison City.

Franklin Regional had six consecutive shutouts going into Tuesday’s game against Greensburg Salem. The Panthers have allowed only two goals all season, and both came in a 2-1 loss to Class 4A Norwin in the season opener.

Penn-Trafford was quietly leading the section with 30 goals going into Tuesday’s game against Armstrong. The Warriors had outscored section opponents 27-1.

Their losses are to Norwin (2-0) and Gateway (2-0), teams tied for the Section 1-4A lead.

Franklin Regional and Penn-Trafford split their section series last year, both winning one-goal games on the other’s field.

Senior defender Thomas Bridges, a returning all-state player, leads Franklin Regional. The Panthers have a potent offensive attack. Juniors Andrew Acosta, Aiden Alexander, Michael Hillebrand, sophomore Luca Aguilera and others have scored goals. Juniors Grant Simon and Ethan Terek have seen playing time at goalkeeper.

Junior Dom Daykon has shown a flair for goal scoring early in the season. He had a hat trick in a 6-1 win over Latrobe. Senior Noah Haslem also is a dependable offensive weapon for the Warriors.

Section 5-2A is beginning to get some spacing after several teams were tied for second place. Mt. Pleasant (6-1, 4-1) clipped Yough (2-3, 2-2), 1-0, to take over second by itself.

Derry (4-3, 2-2) and Yough dropped to third. Belle Vernon (7-0-1, 5-0-0) was in first place.

The top four teams make the WPIAL playoffs.

An interesting side note in Section 5: Six of the seven teams were averaging two or more goals.

Aside from Franklin Regional-Penn-Trafford, local games to watch Thursday include Latrobe at Kiski Area, Brownsville at Mt. Pleasant, Derry at Ligonier Valley, Southmoreland at Yough and Greensburg Central Catholic at Jeannette.

An intriguing nonsection matchup will be at 11:30 a.m. Saturday when Plum visits Franklin Regional.

Franklin Regional is ranked No. 1 in Class 3A, and Plum is No. 2.

Mt. Pleasant junior midfielder Austyn Gross had a busy Thursday. He played in a golf match after school, taking medalist honors with a 38 in a win over Jeannette at Greensburg Country Club, then he played nearly a full 80 minutes of soccer later in the day when the Vikings won at Yough.

A number of local players are doubling as football kickers this season.

All of them are impact soccer players.

Among them are Mt. Pleasant’s Tyke Snyder, Liam Smith of Southmoreland, Alex Petrisko of Norwin, Levi Porvaznik of Latrobe, Luca Aguilera of Penn-Trafford, Sawyer Leuthold of Hempfield, Landon Bell of Belle Vernon and Luca Denis of Greensburg Central Catholic.

Last week, Snyder had a goal Thursday and a field goal Friday.

• Jeannette’s Hunter Schaeffer, who continues to make plays as a receiver and defensive back in football, had a six-point soccer game last week. He scored four goals and dished two assists in a 14-0 win over St. Joseph.

Dom Semplice did him two better with eight points. Semplice had three goals and five assists in the rout, and Tsarr Detar also chipped in a hat trick.

• Penn-Trafford and Mt. Pleasant were leading Westmoreland County in goals with 30 each.

• Franklin Regional did not give up a goal in its first four section games.