Jon Gerardi on soccer: Milton’s just scratching the surface of potential
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Milton coach Brett Ballo has been around the current ground of Black Panthers since they were playing at the U10 level in youth soccer.
He's been coaching some of them for seven or eight years now.
So he knew what talent they had coming up before this year for quite some time, and now, that group of Black Panthers is shining on the field.
Milton has an electric offense which is putting up a ton of goals. Through eight games, Milton has scored 38 goals and have yielded just seven.
Milton has scored three or more goals in all six of their wins, including four against Southern Columbia, six against Danville, three against Central Columbia, nine against Shamokin and seven against Hughesville.
But what's perhaps the scariest thing? Ballo doesn't even think the team has hit their stride yet.
"The crazy thing is, personally, I don't think we clicked yet. Like our offense, we've been successful and had success, but we're just scratching the surface on where we can go on offense," Ballo said. "A lot of it is just effort. I've coached that since they were little, it's an effort game. If you put the effort out there, good things will happen."
And good things have more than happened for Milton's offense and is a huge reason they're sitting at 6-2.
Evan Yoder leads Milton with 14 goals and eight assists, Joel Langdon has 10 goals and five assists, Dom Ballo has eight goals and seven assists and Ethan Rhodes has scored twice so far this year.
In other words, there's no one person to guard against Milton. And part of that success is the majority of Milton's team having played together since the U10 level and knowing where they'll be at any moment on the field.
It's something you can't coach, but Ballo is happy his players have that kind of chemistry with one another.
"Majority of our starters I've coached since U10, so they know each other's mannerisms, they know what they're each going to do, they have the soccer IQ. So they're basically coaches out on the field with each other," Ballo said. "We have success when they lift each other up and they go 'hey, great idea doing this, but what about maybe trying this?' They really gel and bond as a family."
Having three players with eight or more goals and five or more assists is a huge advantage for the Black Panthers and Ballo as well in being able to distribute the ball around.
"That's huge and again, I think we're still just scratching the surface on that because we like to have that balance of possession vs. every once and awhile playing the long ball and trying that. It's big. They're getting there, they're getting there," Ballo said. "We have to peak at the end is really when it matters. Like I said, we're scratching the surface, but they're a great group of boys. They come to practice evry day, they put the work in and they don't complain."
If Milton's just scratching the surface, that means the offense can get even better than they already are. And defenses should take note of that in the district.
MAKING A STATEMENT
It's hard enough coming back from a first-half 2-0 deficit. But to do it against one of the district's perennially best teams in Midd-West? That takes a lot of confidence and talent.
Williamsport did exactly that this past week, and give credit to the Millionaires for not getting their heads down and continuing to battle and fight back.
"A 0-2 deficit is difficult no matter who we're playing. Midd-West has a solid defensive group and an active keeper so it was definitely an uphill battle," Williamsport coach Lee Kaar said. "The key was getting our goal right before the half, that was huge. From there, it was the boys' mindset."
Williamsport has a tough schedule this year just like 2022, and picking up a huge win against an extremely talented opponent was a great confidence boost for Williamsport knowing they can compete with anyone on the field.
"Battling back for a win is great for confidence. The mental part of the game is quite a challenge. In Thursday's loss against Central Mountain, I thought we played pretty well; what crushed us there was our inability to finish the chances we create," Kaar said.
"We're just looking to be competitive and have a chance. We need to clean up the mental mistakes and improve inside our final third," Kaar added.
VALUABLE EXPERIENCE
Hughesville didn't get the result it wanted to on Saturday afternoon at Raymond H. Perritt Stadium. The Spartans suffered a 7-0 loss against an outstanding Milton team, trailing 4-0 at the half.
But, what Hughesville didn't gain in the win column, it gained in the experience column. That's because coach Jim Dennis got a lot of his sophomores and freshman valuable time against a quality opponent.
"Because of the injuries that we've had, we were able to see some of the younger players come in and I don't want to use the excuse that we're a young team, but like today, we had one senior that started. Even on good days we only have two," Dennis said. "So it was good to see these young players step into roles that they're going to be filling next year and I was impressed with Connor (Windham). He played really good as a freshman coming off the bench. So I'm excited with what I saw there."
Dennis and the Spartans have 13 sophomores on the roster and four freshmen on the roster. While the Spartans lost, Dennis knows playing against a team of the caliber like Milton will only pay huge dividends down the road, be it later this season and definitely next fall.
"They get experience in games where we're comfortably ahead, but it's more valuable to get these in these big games like this against quality opponents," Dennis said. "So to be able to see them perform well and fearlessly like they did. It gives me good hope for the future. Unfortunately it doesn't help too much this year, but I do like the experience they're getting."
That type of experience for younger players is only beneficial too.
OUTSTANDING IN GOAL
Speaking of huge, statement wins, give credit to the Lewisburg girls soccer team for going on the road n Camp Hill and beating District 3 power Trinity in a tough, 2-1 game.
The Green Dragons jumped out to a 2-0 goal as well as both Julia Monaco and Caroline Blakeslee struck for Lewisburg.
"Tough opponent for sure. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was worried going into this match. Having five key players under the weather, it came down to team work, work rate, and definitely defensive effort on all areas of the field," Lewisburg coach Fernando Ortiz said. "The team was just amazing."
And just as impressive as getting the win was the play of goalie McKenna Meadows between the posts. Meadows bruised her shoulder in Wednesday's game against Shamokin, a 5-1 win, prior to Saturday's tough contest against Trinity.
But Meadows played great in goal, not letting that bruised shoulder bother her as she came up with 11 saves. Not a bad performance recording 11 saves and allowing just one goal against a team that's been in the last two state quarterfinals in Class AA.
"(She) came out on point. Yes, they managed to slip one by her, but we all know that's always a possibility regardless of who's in the net when the ball is not cleared right away," Ortiz said. "She definitely took control of the game in the box and was very vocal with instructions to her back line. It's exactly what every coach expects from their keeper."
The Green Dragons are riding a three-game win streak currently and are playing solid all around.
Jon Gerardi covers high school soccer for the Sun-Gazette. Email comments to jgerardi@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JonGerardi.
JON GERARDI’S TOP 5 RANKINGS
BOYS SOCCER
1. LEWISBURG (4-1): Lewisburg has won four games since losing an overtime game to Lower Dauphin in its opener. And in those four wins, the Green Dragons have yet to allow a goal. And the defense is doing what it does best and isn't allowing teams to get looks at the goal. Lewisburg has given up just seven shots on goal through five games.
2. MONTOURSVILLE (6-1): The Warriors posted back-to-back shutouts this past week, edging Mifflinburg and Southern Columbia in close, 1-0 games. Those tight games are beneficial as well for when districts roll around.
3. MILTON (5-1): Evan Yoder, Dom Ballo, Joel Langdon. Any one of them can make you pay if you don't pay attention to them on the field. And that tro is a big reason the Black Panthers are currently 6-1 after a 7-0 rout over Hughesville on Saturday.
4. WARRIOR RUN (5-1): Warrior Run's back line is outstanding, and Braego Cieslukowski is great in goal and has posted four shutouts — including three in a row against Millville, Williamsport and Bloomsburg. The Defeners lost on Thursday to Loyalsock, 2-1.
T-5. WILLIAMSPORT (3-3): A huge win over Midd-West was bookended by shutout losses to Warrior Run and Central Mountain. Lee Kaar and his Millionaires know this season will feature tough game after tough game.
T-5. WELLSBORO (4-2): The Green Hornets suffered a tough 3-0 loss at home on Saturday to Loyalsock, but edged Athens in an exciting game last Tuesday, 2-1 in overtime. Wellsboro is currently third in the NTL, behind Williamson (3-0) and North Penn-Liberty (4-1).
PLAYER OF THE WEEK — Brycen Savoy, Loyalsock: The Lancers played Wellsboro on Saturday, who entered the game 4-1, and Savoy came up big against the Green Hornets. Savoy delivered on a penalty kick and then scored again less than a minute later to give Loyalsock a 3-0 win.
GIRLS SOCCER
1. MONTOURSVILLE (7-1): The Warriors have won seven straight since losing to defending Class AA state champion Central Columbia in their opener. Montoursville beat Loyalsock, Lewisburg, Jersey Shore and Danville this past week, blanking each opponent.
2. HUGHESVILLE (7-1): The Spartans picked up an exciting 3-2 OT win vs. Milton on Monday to move to 7-1, the Spartans' second consecutive win after beating Mifflinburg on Wednesday.
3. WARRIOR RUN (7-2): The Defenders have rattled off three wins this past week, defeating Midd-West (5-0), Central Mountain (6-0) and Bloomsburg (2-1).
4. MUNCY (5-1): Muncy has continued to roll after its season-opening loss and cruised past Millville on Wednesday, 6-2, and beat Montgomery 10-1, earning two Mid-Penn wins in those games. Emilie and Ella Nagel and Addi and Ava Eyer are four big threats up top for the Indians.
T-5. MILTON (4-1): Talk about a heartbreaking loss. The Black Panthers played Hughesville really tough on Monday night, but the Spartans won it in overtime, 3-2.
T-5. LEWISBURG (4-3): The Green Dragons defeated District 3 power Trinity on Saturday, winning 2-1 and jumping out to a 2-0 lead. Trinity has been in back-to-back state quarterfinals and is year in and year out an outstanding program.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK — Emilie Nagel, Muncy: Nagel is a scoring threat any time she's on the field and can strike seemingly whenever she's in position. Last Wednesday, she had a goal and assist in a 6-2 win against Millville before posting three goals and three assists in Monday's 10-1 rout over Montgomery.