If that doesn’t prepare you for life in District 4, not much will.

But that’s how Hughesville likes it. The Spartans aren’t shying away from tough competition, but rather embracing it. If you want to be among the best teams in late October, you have to go through a brutal District 4 playoff path. Last year Hughesville reached the District 4 Class AA championship game, losing to Central Columbia.

“District 4 is always a dog fight. I push for quality opponents throughout the entire schedule because we need those opponents to show where our weaknesses are so we can fix them going into the playoffs,” Hughesville coach Cody Hack said. “Our area has quite a few top-end squads and, win or lose, it’s always a fun match to be a part of.”

The Spartans so far are unbeaten, having defeated Selinsgrove, 3-1, and Williamsport, 4-1. That win over the Millionaires came thanks to a three-goal second half to break the game open.

Kendall Hamm of Hughesville and Loisa Hofstrom of Williamsport collide as they try to gain control of the ball at Hughesville High School. Hughesville won, 4-1. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

The big test next is the Blue Jays on Thursday. Look further on the schedule though, and there’s more tough tests that await.

Montoursville, Milton, Warrior Run, Muncy, Southern Columbia, South Williamsport, Shikellamy.

That schedule is one that will only yield dividends though and make the Spartans a better team.

“These ladies know what we expect from an energy level. I always tell them, the result from the scoreboard will come and go, but if we are playing proper soccer, and enjoying the chance to get on the pitch, then we will be successful more often than not,” Hack said.

The Spartans have been plenty successful, that’s for sure.

Dylan Webb of South Williamsport punches the ball away as Mason Brill of Wellsboro tries to score in South Williamsport. Wellsboro won 2-1. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

PIECES OF THE PUZZLE

Losing one talented player is tough enough, but when you have to replace three standouts after a solid year, it makes things even more difficult.

That’s the position that Wellsboro coach Todd Fitch and his assistants found themselves in this past summer preparing for the regular season.

Gone was NTL Player of the Year Micaiah Fitch, NTL Offensive Player of the Year Alex Citrino and NTL Defensive Player of the Year Micah Vickery.

“This summer we had a really good offseason and that gives us the opportunity to really start putting pieces together. Micaiah, Alex, we were looking at this between Micaiah and Alex and Lucas (Cuneo), I think they had like 54 of our 81 goals last year,” Fitch said. “So that is certainly a void and we are starting to see where guys are fitting. Now we just have to kind of dial in and fine tune some things so when we take our shots, we can put them on frame.”

So far players have been stepping up. It’s still early in the year, but the Green Hornets have been playing well and players are starting to lean into roles.

Wellsboro is 3-0 with just three goals allowed — one of which was a penalty kick vs. South Williamsport on Saturday — and four players have found the back of the net in those three games with David Seeling and Jonathan Carl leading the team with four goals apiece.

“When you can have more threats on the field it helps you out because an opponent can’t focus on just one,” Fitch noted. “So yeah, it is satisfying when you can see multiple guys threaten at the goal.”

KEEPING SOUTH IN GAMES

It’s been a rough start to the year for the Mounties’ boys soccer team. South Williamsport is 1-4 following a tough 2-1 loss to Wellsboro this past Saturday at home.

But in goal, Dylan Webb does everything he possibly can to keep South Williamsport in games. That was evident in Saturday’s close loss to the Green Hornets in which he recorded seven saves and kept the game from getting out of hand.

“As long as he’s making those saves, that’s going to inspire confidence in the rest of the team knowing that every mistake isn’t going to lead to a goal with him stepping up back there,” South Williamsport coach Chris Vanaskie said of his goalie. “As far as how he has played this season has been great. If he can continue that, he’s going to set us up to get some wins down the road for sure.”

The front-end of South’s schedule hasn’t been easy. The Mounties had to face Northumberland Christian, Montoursville, Central Mountain and Wellsboro, four teams they fell shy against.

And the Mid-Penn schedule definitely won’t make things any easier with teams such as Benton, Millville, Sullivan County, Montgomery and Muncy to play.

But losing just 2-1 to a good Wellsboro program is something Vanaskie sees as giving the team some confidence moving forward.

“We have an extremely tough schedule to start, so hanging in there with talented teams like Wellsboro inspires confidence for the rest of the season. Just the other day at Central Mountain, we lost by three but it was closer than the scoreline may have indicated,” Vanaskie said. “We know that our schedule is going to build some character for us, especially early on. Losing four games early is tough to get through, but if we can stay focused on the goal of making the playoffs, we can get those wins when we’re supposed to or when the team we’re playing, teams we have a little better of a chance. But our early season schedule has been hard. We understand that, we’ll be ready to go when the chances present themselves.”

ATTENTION ALL COACHES

With the season getting into full gear, area coaches and assistants are reminded to make sure to send in results after every soccer game, win or lose, so that players can be recognized in print for their achievements and milestones.

Scores can be sent to sportsdesk@sungazette.com.

Jon Gerardi is the sports editor at the Sun-Gazette and covers high school soccer. He can be reached by email at jgerardi@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JonGerardi.

JON GERARDI’S TOP 5 RANKINGS

BOYS SOCCER

1. LEWISBURG (3-0): Lewisburg opened the year with a 1-0 win over Warrior Run and then beat Dallas on Saturday, 1-0. Coach Ben Kettlewell stresses every year that the team’s defense starts up top with the forwards and goes back to the goalie, and that’s been proven again this year with three straight shutouts. The Green Dragons had a big 4-0 win on Tuesday as well, blanking Central Columbia, 4-0.

2. MONTOURSVILLE (3-0): Warrior fans are happy so far this year with the start Montoursville had. The Warriors are 3-0 with wins against South Williamsport, Milton and Troy. And Montoursville’s offense has been clicking in those games. The Warriors have scored at least four goals in all three games so far and posted nine against Troy.

3. WELLSBORO (3-1): There were plenty of holes to fill offensively and defensively, but Wellsboro coach Todd Fitch and his assistants have the Green Hornets playing well early and players are filling in voids that were left by talented players like Micaiah Fitch and Alex Citrino.

4. MILTON (2-2): The Black Panthers are playing well early and Tuesday’s win over Southern Columbia was the latest example. After Ben Gehret converted a penalty kick to make it a 1-1 game, Orrie Godown scored two minutes later to shift the momentum back to Milton en route to the 2-1 win.

5. WARRIOR RUN (2-3): After starting the year 0-2 after falling to Lewisburg and Benton in back-to-back 1-0 losses, the Defenders have gone 2-1 since by beating Shenandoah Valley, 7-0, and Williamsport, 6-0, with a 6-1 loss to Millville in between. It’s been a bit of a bumpy start this year for Warrior Run, but it’s a long season.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Quinn Winslow, Montoursville

Winslow was on an offensive tear this past week. In addition to scoring a goal, he dished out three assists in a rout over Troy on Saturday to help the Warriors excel. Winslow is one of a number of threats up top for Montoursville and he showed why this past week.

GIRLS SOCCER

1. HUGHESVILLE (2-0): The Spartans have a tough schedule this year, but they’re proving they’re a tough team. The Spartans opened the year by beating Selinsgrove — a team which has reached four straight District 4 Class AAA finals — 3-1 before posting a 4-1 win against Williamsport, a District 2-4 Class AAAA finalist last year. Hughesville’s defense is showing they’re a tough unit.

2. MILTON (3-0): The Black Panthers started the season strong and are playing well. Milton is 3-0 with all three games seeing the Black Panthers score four goals by beating Millville (4-0), Midd-West (4-0) and Mifflinburg (4-1). The Black Panthers have some solid tests coming up with Williamsport, Montoursville, Hughesville and Southern Columbia looming in the coming weeks.

3. WARRIOR RUN (2-0-1): Not having a scorer like Raygan Lust on the roster is tough, but the Defenders have shown they have plenty of talent to make up for her graduation. That includes Katie Zaktansky who’s helped lead the team to a 2-0-1 start. Warrior Run beat Williamsport, 5-2, before tying Danville (1-1) and blanking Line Mountain, 3-0. Chloe Burden has played well early in goal too, replacing Addy Ohmneiss.

4. MUNCY (1-0): The Indians opened the year with a 3-1 win over Millville/Benton in Mid-Penn action. Muncy has to play the waiting game early in the season. It would be six days before a matchup with CMVT (Sept. 3), then another five days before playing its next game vs. Troy (Sept. 8).

5. WILLIAMSPORT (1-2): The Millionaires had a great win on Saturday by defeating a talented State College team in overtime, 3-2. Williamsport spread the ball around offensively as Breah Phillips, Deborah Shultz and Loisa Hofstrom all found the back of the net. That win should help give Williamsport’s players some confidence early on, especially after snapping a two-game skid to start the year.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Jadyn Dunlap, Wellsboro and

Sienna Short, Milton

Consider this the Week of the Goalie. Dunlap has proved early this year that she’s a standout goalie for the Green Hornets, and Short has played well at Milton. Dunlap has been in goal for all three Wellsboro games and each has been the same result: a zero on the scoreboard. Dunlap has posted three shutouts to start the year with 18 saves, and that will help give her a boost confidence-wise this year. Short, meanwhile, has recorded 19 saves for the Black Panthers through three games and has yet to allow one past her as the Black Panthers are undefeated.