Westmoreland County girls soccer notebook: Community rallies around Rosensteel Classic

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, September 6, 2022 | 5:50 PM

More than 600 fans came through the turnstiles at Norwin on Saturday for the inaugural Moe Rosensteel Memorial Kickoff Classic.

The three-game event was like a soccer celebration, with the late Moe Rosensteel on the minds of all attendees.

The showcase had a DJ, music, concessions, merchandise and, last but not least, three outstanding girls soccer games.

Proceeds went to the Kaitlyn Moe Rosensteel Scholarship Foundation in memory of the Rosensteel, a popular figure in youth, cup and high school soccer before her death in 2019.

The foundation gives out an award for the top girls player in the WPIAL and a scholarship.

The kickoff showcase brought a crowd and teams that had connections to the Rosensteel family.

Ringgold, Moe’s high school, defeated Hickory, 1-0, in the first game.

Franklin Regional, which fell to Thomas Jefferson, 1-0, is coached by Scott Arnold, one of Moe’s youth coaches.

Jamie Morrison, Latrobe’s coach, also worked with Rosensteel at the youth level.

Latrobe and Norwin played two overtimes before settling on a 2-2 tie in the third game of the event.

“There are a lot of connections,” said Ed Rosensteel, Moe’s father who orchestrated and ran the classic along with his family and close friend, Keith Genicola. “It’s the soccer community. So many people came out. It amazes me how many people wanted to do something and be a part of it. We can’t thank everyone enough.”

More than 30 volunteers worked the event.

Latrobe donated $1,000 from a fundraiser it had last year.

“Moe had a fire and a love for the game,” Morrison said.

Nearing 100

Southmoreland senior Olivia Cernuto is getting closer to the 100-goal mark for her career.

She had six goals in the season opener against Connellsville and tallied four more against Charleroi, bringing her career total to 92.

Southmoreland has 13 goals this season. Cernuto has 10 of them.

Cernuto could pull off the rare feat of scoring 100 goals in soccer and tallying 1,000 points in basketball. She has 875 career points on the hardwood.

DeCerb returning

Latrobe senior goalkeeper Sofia DeCerb is expected to make her season debut Wednesday when Latrobe visits Plum in a Section 3-3A game.

Plum (2-0) is ranked No. 3 and Latrobe (1-0-1) is No. 4.

A James Madison commit, DeCerb has not played this season as she rests a shoulder injury.

Fit to be tied

The season is barely two weeks old, and a number of local teams already have a tie on their record.

Norwin (1-1-1), Kiski Area (2-1-1), Belle Vernon (0-2-1), Latrobe (1-0-1) and Burrell (2-0-1) have all played to a draw so far.

Rank and file

There was no movement in the TribLive HSSN rankings for local teams.

Latrobe remained No. 4 in Class 3A, while Southmoreland is No. 2 and Mt. Pleasant No. 3 in 2A, and Greensburg Central Catholic maintained the top spot in Class A despite a loss to Springdale to open the season.

Corner kicks

Hempfield has been outscored 30-0, in three games. … Jeannette has been outscored 29-1. … Five WPIAL teams had 4-0 records heading into Tuesday’s action: North Allegheny, Bethel Park, Laurel Highlands, Thomas Jefferson and Chartiers-Houston.

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., Latrobe, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Southmoreland