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Jon Gerardi on soccer: Montgomery boys building toward the future

The last two years were more than a time of uncertainty in high school athletics. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had only been going on for a few months when the fall season began.

It impacted training for many teams across all sports. From indoor weight-lifting sessions to being close on the field.

Fast forward a year, and while things improved, the threat of COVID-19 forcing cancellations of games still lingered.

It made things tough for players, and more than frustrating. For Montgomery’s current seniors and juniors, it was perhaps even more tough given they were tasked with helping lay the foundation for a varsity program that hadn’t been around since 2015. That group of players were bearing a weight of getting the program up off the ground and running, and even with those uncertainties in the air and COVID-19 lingering, the current Red Raider seniors and juniors did just that and helped get the footing in place.

“This group of seniors especially, they’ve been at it since Day 1. They realize this program is going to be kind of their legacy regardless of if they’re successful or not,” Montgomery coach Mike Sherman said. “They’re the ones responsible for building soccer at Montgomery.”

The record may not be flashy these past two years, but make no mistake about it: the Red Raiders are putting in work.

Montgomery went winless its first season in 2020 before seeing a three-win improvement last year. It’s small steps the Red Raiders are taking to getting to a bigger goal.

“Our current senior class’s record in two years is three wins, 30 losses. That is not a record where you’d think you’d be building a winning program, but we actually have more kids out for the team this year than any other season,” Sherman said. “So I think that speaks volumes. Our roster size is approaching 30, that many kids in a small school for a sport? It’s definitely something kids want to be a part of. We’re pretty excited. Kids are putting in the work and we’re anxious to get on the field.”

Montgomery’s already on the right path to improving as the Red Raiders opened the 2022 season with a 2-0 shutout over Shamokin to start 1-0. It takes small steps to build a winning program up, but Sherman and his team are doing what they can to get there. One small victory at a time.

“We’re optimistic. It’s going to take three times the amount of wins our program has to make the playoffs. When you look at it that way, it’ll be pretty impressive if they’re able to do it and at least go .500 and guarantee a playoff spot,” Sherman said.

The Red Raiders coach summed it up best right before the season started as to what he’s hoping Montgomery’s program becomes.

“We’re not shooting for a flash-in-the-pan, one-year deal,” Sherman said. “We want to build a program that’s competitive.”

A SOLID START IN GOAL

Had you watched Thursday’s boys soccer game between Loyalsock and South Williamsport, you’d have seen South goalie Aaron Akers making some great stops. Low, high, blocks to his left, going to his right. Add in Loyalsock goalie Chris Cooley, and it was a nice display of goalie work.

Against a Loyalsock team which was putting pressure on the Mounties’ back line and Akers all day, the solid goal play was needed. What you didn’t know by watching Akers is that this is just the second year he’s ever played in goal.

“I’ve been extremely impressed with him so far. It’s just his second year playing soccer and he’s come a long way since. He’s extremely coachable and so far, in the two games that he started as a varsity player, he’s been coming up big for us,” Vanaskie said.

That includes Thursday’s close contest against Loyalsock and a season-opening win at Hughesville on Wednesday.

“I like to work with the keepers and I made sure to give him a little extra time this year in preseason because he was inexperienced and we had some younger guys who weren’t experienced, so they needed the time,” Vanaskie said.

Having a standout goalie like that is something Vanaskie is more than thrilled with as well, especially someone who has adapted at the position from last year to this year and has improved leaps and bounds.

“Miles and miles (he’s come). He’s improved so much just teaching him how to kick the ball, how to catch the ball, how to position himself,” Vanaskie said. “He’s just a sponge and absorbing it all. He’s getting better every day just from the beginning of preseason to now. Those two and a half weeks, he’s improved greatly just in that time.”

And expect him to continue to improve as the year goes along.

COLLEGE RANKS

Lycoming opened its women’s soccer season on Thursday with a 3-1 win against Penn State Altoona. While the win was nice, what was more important was South Williamsport graduate Bella Green’s contributions.

The former Mountie standout scored twice, and in the process climbed the ranks at Lycoming in women’s soccer history. She moved into the top 10 in program history for career points at 42, surpassing Meghenn Jackson (2015-16) and Hughesville graduate Jayden Leighow (2017-20), each of whom had 20 and were tied at ninth.

Her 16 goals entering Monday were tied with Jackson for ninth in program history.

Another former South Williamsport standout is making a splash at Pitt-Johnstown in Haley Neidig. Neidig, a Sun-Gazette Player of the Year runner-up in 2019, got off to a solid start so far in Pitt-Johnstown’s season, scoring a goal in the season-opening 1-1 tie against Sheperd.

Don’t be surprised if you keep seeing Neidig’s name in box scores for Pitt-Johnstown.

Warrior Run graduate Madi Welliver played 45 minutes in goal for Misericordia and recorded a shutout in a 2-0 win on Thursday. The former Defender and state’s all-time shutouts leader in girls soccer at the PIAA level had quite the journey in college, overcoming a handful of knee injuries throughout her career. She played with the Williamsport City Lions over this past spring/summer and is going out with one more collegiate season.

FRIENDLY REMINDER

To all area coaches, make sure to report the results of games — win or lose — to the Sun-Gazette to be included in local roundup writeups. It ensures area players receive recognition for their efforts and accolades. Scores can be sent to sportsdesk@sungazette.com.

Jon Gerardi is the sports editor at the Sun-Gazette and covers high school soccer. Email comments to jgerardi@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JonGerardi.

JON GERARDI’S TOP 5 RANKINGS

(Records and statistics through Monday’s games)

BOYS SOCCER

1. LEWISBURG (0-0-1): It’s not often that Lewisburg is held scoreless, but the Green Dragons were shutout in a double overtime scoreless draw last week to Lower Dauphin. Mark your calendar for today, though, as Lewisburg hosts Midd-West in a rematch of last year’s PIAA Class AA semifinal. Those two always put on great matches, and today’s should be no exception.

2. WILLIAMSPORT (2-0): The Millionaires defeated Mifflinburg, 1-0, to open the season before its offense exploded for a 7-0 win over Mifflin County on Saturday. The Millionaires upcoming schedule features some tough contests against State College, Warrior Run and Midd-West, which will help test the Millionaires and give them valuable experience.

3. MILTON (2-0): The Black Panthers’ offense hasn’t shown any rust from the offseason. Milton is 2-0 and outscored its first two opponents, 12-2, by blanking Millville, 7-0, and beating Montoursville, 5-2. Get used to seeing sophomore Joel Langdon’s name. He’s already scored four times through two games and is turning into a solid scoring option.

4. MONTOURSVILLE (2-1): Montoursville is riding a two-game win streak thanks to winning the annual Burke Tournament by beating Athens, 2-1, in the first game and blanking rival Loyalsock, 1-0, in a close final. Playing in those close games will only be beneficial as the year goes on.

5. LOYALSOCK (2-2): The Lancers have been playing solid to start the year. After a 5-0 loss to open the year against Danville, Loyalsock has since blanked South Williamsport (1-0) and Benton (2-0) in consecutive games before a tough 1-0 close loss to Montoursville in the final of the Burke Tournament on Saturday that was the resut of a penalty kick.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK — Josh Heiney, Hughesville: Heiney is off to a solid start with the Spartans this year. He has four-goals to start the year — a five-way tie for the most in the area so far — and an assist through five games.

GIRLS SOCCER

1. MONTOURSVILLE (2-0): Talk about starting your season with a bang. Montoursville opened the year with its annual Burke Tournament on Saturday and faced defending PIAA Class A semifinalist South Williamsport and District 4 qualifier Warrior Run. The Warriors held a potent South Williamsport team to just two shots in an 8-1 rout, and then limited a very good Warrior Run team to just two shots. Montoursville coach Vic Gorini noted before the season started that Montoursville would hope to keep up its defensive identity, and they are living up to it early.

2. WILLIAMSPORT (3-1): Williamsport graduated some of the talent from last year’s team, but there’s plenty of players stepping up early and often so far. That includes Elizabeth Shultz and Jaelynn Helmrich, who are turning into scoring threats, and Sarah Spring in goal.

3. HUGHESVILLE (3-1): The Spartans have already scored 20 goals this year, and we’re just four games into the season. Defensively, Hughesville’s given up just three goals. Expect the Spartans to only get better as the year goes on and keep playing well.

4. WARRIOR RUN (2-2): Rob Ryder’s Defenders are playing strong to start 2022. The Defenders lost a tough overtime thriller to Williamsport, 5-4, before rebounding with a 5-1 win against Danville and a 3-2 double overtime win against Wyoming Valley West to open the Burke Tournament. The Defenders fell to a great Montoursville team, 1-0, but don’t expect Ryder and his team to dwell on that loss.

5. MILTON (1-1): The Black Panthers have a lot returning all over the field, but Mo Reiner may be the biggest strength on the team. Reiner was a beast last year in goal, and she hasn’t missed a step this year.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK — Montoursville’s back line: I know, I know…it’s more than one player. But Montoursville’s defense played as well as you would want a defense to play in the Burke Tournament. As noted above in the power rankings, Montoursville limited two very good teams (South Williamsport and Warrior Run) to four combined shots.

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