Westmoreland County campus clippings: GCC grad Nate Ward playing final season at St. Louis

Nate Ward had planned to play one last season of college soccer closer to home at Duquesne.

But the grad student transfer shifted gears and ended up at St. Louis playing for a nationally ranked program.

Ward, a Greensburg Central Catholic graduate, played four years at Indiana of the Big Ten Conference. The former high school All-American and Trib Westmoreland player of the year played in two NCAA College Cups with the Hoosiers.

St. Louis coach Kevin Kalish said landing Ward was a stroke of luck.

Ward moved to St. Louis to work at Edward Jones financial services.

“After a number of discussions, we were able to make it work for him to play his last year of eligibility at SLU and help this team win championships,” Kalish said on the school’s athletic website. “Over Nate’s career, he has started in an NCAA national final and been a main contributor on some quality Indiana teams. We believe Nate’s work ethic, attitude and overall experience will be an important asset to this 2024 Billiken team.”

A forward, Ward played in 11 games last season at Indiana with one start. He saw time in 66 career games at the Division I level.

Men’s soccer

Grove City: The Hudson brothers are playing this season together at Grove City, and both are in the starting lineup.

Sophomore defender Colton Hudson (Franklin Regional) is in his second season with the program, but Connor Hudson (Franklin Regional) is a grad student who played previously at Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C.

Saint Vincent: Sophomore Cam Mulvanny had two first-half goals, and sophomore Bruno Hurtado, sophomore Javier Torres and sophomore Mattia Spertta had one apiece as the Bearcats dumped Carlow, 5-0, for their first win of the season.

Junior goalkeeper Kameron Rock was named the PAC Defensive Player of the Week. He did not yield a goal in 135 minutes across two games. He has 17 saves this season.

Seton Hill: Seton Hill opened with a 2-0 victory at Ohio Dominican as junior Vasilis Christodoulou and junior Julian Marker found the net.

Football

Allegheny: Senior quarterback Trevor Brncic (Franklin Regional) completed 23 of 31 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns as Allegheny started the season with a 20-14 win over Bethany.

Brncic also punts for the Gators.

Edinboro: Senior linebacker CJ Waldier (Yough) had six tackles, 1.5 for loss and broke up a pass, while senior safety Toby Cline (Jeannette) added four stops in Grove City. Junior running back Ian Demeri (Penn-Trafford) ran for 130 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown, and junior linebacker Jack Jollie (Penn-Trafford) had seven tackles and a sack as the Wolverines opened the season with a 41-0 victory over Geneva.

Mercyhurst: Grad linebacker Dillon Ferretti (Hempfield) was third on the team with six tackles in a 32-31 loss to Howard.

Saint Vincent: Sophomore defensive back Robbie Labuda (Mt. Pleasant) had nine tackles but the Bearcats fell to Washington & Jefferson, 59-6.

Labuda had 52 stops last season, including 39 solo.

Seton Hill: Redshirt junior Ky’ron Craggette rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, but the Griffins (0-2) fell to Ohio Dominican, 21-14, in their home opener.

Waynesburg: Junior Isaac Trout (Southmoreland) had five catches for 34 yards in the Yellow Jackets’ 41-7 loss to Case Western Reserve.

Wisconsin: Redshirt sophomore Cade Yacamelli (Penn-Trafford) rushed for a career-high 73 yards on eight carries for the Badgers in a 27-13 win over South Dakota.

Women’s soccer

James Madison: Redshirt freshman Sofia DeCerb (Latrobe) has started all six games and has a 1-3-2 record with 31 saves.

Pitt-Greensburg: Senior Emily Bonelli returned to the lineup after missing two years with an injury, and scored a goal in the Bobcats’ 1-0 win over Saint Vincent in the proclaimed “Battle of Route 30.”

Freshman Dionna Santia assisted the score for UPG.

The Bobcats also defeated Bryn Athyn, 4-1, as junior Megan Hickey had a goal and an assist, and senior Sarah Tonkovich and junior Reese Walker also scored in the win.

Robert Morris: Junior Paloma Swankler (Norwin) scored the tying goal with six minutes remaining to give the Colonials a draw and one point in the standings.

The long-range goal was the third of the season for Swankler in a 1-1 tie against Dartmouth.

Saint Vincent: Junior Madisen Geesaman scored two goals, while sophomore Emma Koller and freshman Kataira Rhodes (Belle Vernon) each had one as SVC defeated Carlow, 4-1. The Bearcats (3-1) outshot the Celtics, 37-4.

Men’s golf

Pitt-Greensburg: Junior Zach Abdallah (Franklin Regional) was the top finisher for the Bobcats with a 2-over-par 73 as the team won the Pitt-Bradford Kickoff Classic with a score of 310.

West Virginia: Freshman Nick Turowski (Penn-Trafford) finished seventh at the Minnesota Golf Classic at Pioneer Creek Golf Club in Maple Plain, Minn.

Turowski carded rounds of 71, 71 and 75 for a 1-over-par total of 217.

Men’s tennis

Washington & Jefferson: Junior Mitch Kenney (Norwin) and junior Nate Clarke (Valley) teamed up for a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles as the Presidents defeated Mount Aloysius, 6-1.

Women’s volleyball

Carlow: Junior Rebecca Hess (Greensburg Central Catholic) was named the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Athlete of the Week. In three games, she had 32 kills and 44 digs as the Celtics went 2-1.

Seton Hill: The Griffins moved to 3-0 with a 3-0 victory over Thomas More.

Sophomore Catie Flohr had 12 kills, and senior Paige Cole and sophomore Elle Deeter added 10 apiece. Senior Abby Oesterling had a team-high 29 assists.

Women’s cross country

Saint Vincent: Freshman Grace Neubert was named the PAC Newcomer of the Week. She took second place in her college debut at the Father Bede Invitational at St. Francis (Pa.) with a time of 14 minutes, 26.20 seconds.

Neubert won the PAC Preview Meet, pushing past 91 runners, in 22:32.17.

Men’s cross country

Saint Vincent: Grad student Tim Patterson was named the PAC Runner of the Week. Patterson finished second at the Father Bede Invitational in Loretto with a time of 19:07. The 64-runner field included 31 Division-I runners.

Patterson went on to win the PAC Preview Meet, an 8K race, in 25:58. SVC was third in the team standings.

Wrestling

Saint Vincent: The Bearcats’ new program will dedicate its mat to coach Tom “Legs” Harbert this winter.

The ceremony will be Nov. 12 when SVC takes on Shippensburg, Harbert’s college alma mater.

Harbert coached wrestling, women’s lacrosse and cross country at Saint Vincent and left an indelible mark on the athletics department.