From: Bill Beckner Jr.

Tuesday, August 27, 2024 | 3:18 p.m.

Twelve of the 49 players on the Moe Rosensteel Most Outstanding Player Award nominees play for Westmoreland County teams.

The award, named after the late Katelyn “Moe” Rosensteel, is being presented for the sixth time and, according to a voting committee, goes to the best player in the WPIAL.

Latrobe tops the list of local players. The Wildcats have four nominees, including Maddy Petruzzi, Robin Reilly, Ava Yurko and Annalyse Bauer.

Other locals include Julia Bursick of Norwin, Rease Solomon of Penn-Trafford, Grace West of Belle Vernon, Miley Kariotis of Burrell, Riley Kerr of Greensburg Central Catholic, Rylin Bugosh of Mt. Pleasant, Abby Paterline of Franklin Regional and Kendalyn Umbel of Yough, who is not playing this season.

Three finalists are announced around the time of the WPIAL championships, with the winner traditionally announced the day after the PIAA finals.

Previous winners include: Ellie Coffield of Mars, Sarah Schupansky of North Allegheny, Kelsey Salopek of Steel Valley, Hailey Longwell of Moon and Lola Abraham of Riverview.

Top performers

The season opened last weekend with the Moe Rosensteel Kickoff Classic in Ringgold.

Latrobe and Avonworth played to a 2-2 tie and the Wildcats’ Bauer was named her team’s player of the game.

Abby Paterline of Franklin Regional won the award for the Panthers following their 3-1 loss to Thomas Jefferson.

Ringgold beat Hickory 6-0 and in the other games the Ringgold boys narrowly beat Elizabeth Forward 4-3.

Sister act

Three sets of sisters no longer participate in local soccer programs.

Penn-Trafford has lost two sets of siblings.

Juniors Hanna and Olivia Weishaar have decided to quit soccer so they can train for basketball and track and field.

The Osloskys – juniors Ava and Emilie – moved to the Kiski School in Saltsburg.

Twelfth-grader Jillian Botti and eleventh-grader Lexie Botti also left Greensburg Central Catholic to play at Kiski School.

“We are both very excited to join the Oslosky sisters both on and off the field,” said Jillian Botti, who has committed to Seton Hill but was slowed by surgery on her medial patellofemoral ligament and will be out for several months while she rehabs.

Jeannette still understaffed

Jeannette only has eight players left and has not been on the field for a single game.

Coach Bill Bryant asked parents and potential players via social media for help in expanding the roster.

At this point, Bryant just wants to complete a lineup.

“Please encourage your kids to ask friends if they want to play this year,” Bryant posted on Facebook.

Umbel does not play

For the second year in a row, Kendalyn Umbel has decided not to play high school soccer. A senior at Yough, Umbel is a talented player who has chosen to attend Youngstown State.

She spent some of her free time outside of high school working toward, and eventually earned, a black belt in karate.

This fall, Umbel, a player for the Century United Club, plans to continue his training to prepare for the next cup season and beyond.

Rate them

Four local teams began the season ranked by TribLive HSSN.

In the preseason rankings, Latrobe was No. 5 in its new 4A classification. Mt. Pleasant was No. 2 and Burrell No. 5 in 2A and Greensburg Central Catholic was No. 3 in Class A.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. Reach him at [email protected].

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg CC, Latrobe, Mt Pleasant, Penn-Trafford, Yough