Next thing Lesher knows, the Hughesville boys soccer job opened up.

“I said that’s got to be a sign and applied right away,” Lesher said. “Our old coach Jim Dennis, I wasn’t expecting him to resign. He coached me too, as well, so I thought you got to do it. There’s a reason.”

Take it as a sign or faith that led Lesher back to the Spartans, but he’s more than glad he’s taking the team over.

“More than I can put into words. I don’t think I’d be who I am without the coaches who helped me out over the years and the times when I was having trouble myself,” Lesher said. “Knowing someone supported me then and helped me get through life in a fun way, too. Soccer was an outlet and, if I can, I want to make a little difference for these guys in a big picture. Especially being at my home school again, it feels natural. It feels right.”

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Hughesville High School boys soccer head coach Cole Lesher.

Lesher played for Dennis and knows what it takes to be successful at Hughesville.

The Spartans may not have a winning record currently — they sit at 2-3 entering Monday — but the Spartans are playing well in all of their games. In a loss to Northumberland Christian on Aug. 23, the Spartans fell in a close contest, 3-2. On Aug. 28, Hughesville lost another close game, this time on the road at Danville, 4-3.

And last week against Selinsgrove at home, it was a tough 3-1 loss to the Seals and Hughesville competed until the end to try and score in that game.

“Sure, we’d like to win those games but I keep telling them you’re not playing against random teams, you’re playing against solid players and you’re putting up good showings. Sure, we have some mistakes we made that led to big goals or maybe we didn’t finish ones we wanted to, but I think opportunities are there that show them we’re there,” Lesher said. “We’re not quite as defined as we want to be, but that gives them hope. I respect that they’re willing to work.”

Lesher has Hughesville competing well in games and that’s a good sign for keeping the program on the right track and an upward trajectory to be vying for a possible playoff berth come October.

THROWN INTO THE FIRE

Over the summer, Hughesville’s boys soccer team wasn’t exactly sure what they were going to do with the goalie position. An injury in the summer meant the projected starter with experience was out and someone needed to step up.

Enter Royce Gardner.

The Spartan had never played in goal before, but stepped up over the offseason and did what he could to learn. That meant instead of doing two-a-day practices, he was working out and practicing three times a day to get better between the pipes.

“Royce, he stepped up. This is his first year in goal,” Lesher said. “We weren’t sure what to do (with injury) but he stepped up to the plate and has been working. He’s really willing to get his body in there too. He’s going out, all in and being willing to sacrifice for the play is huge, his mentality, it speaks volumes.”

Against Selinsgrove in a 3-1 loss, Gardner posted four saves and helped keep the game from getting out of hand when the Seals threatened.

And for Lesher, he’s seen a huge development from Gardner in just a month’s span.

“An absurd development. At first we were worried, I wasn’t sure about it, but both him and our other goalie were willing to come in and put in extra work,” Lesher said. “Just putting in the work to get better. I think that their coachability is one of their biggest assets. He’s improved tremendously. I keep hoping he’s going to keep climbing, too.”

DON’T COUNT THE

RAIDERS OUT

They say it’s not over ’til it’s over, and that saying may as well be the motto for this year’s Montgomery boys soccer team. Last week, Montgomery hosted Sullivan County under the lights at the football stadium and were in a tied game with the Griffins as the final 60 seconds were on the clock.

Then, with 24 seconds remaining, Dylan Sherman drilled a goal with 24 seconds left to give the Red Raiders a thrilling win.

On Saturday, it was more of the same.

With less than a minute to play, Montgomery’s Camden Dalrymple scored a game winner as the clock was underneath 60 seconds for a win against Lourdes.

If there’s time on the clock, Montgomery can score.

“I’ve coached many of these boys since they first started playing soccer, stressing since Day 1 that players make plays and good teams find ways to win,” Montgomery coach Mike Sherman said. “Coaches can teach technical skill, but they cannot teach the internal drive to overcome and succeed as that must come from within.”

Winning games in the final minute are not only exciting for the Red Raider faithful in the stands, but beneficial and valuable for the players knowing they’re never out of a game and the offense can find the net at any moment.

“It is a huge confidence boost to the team and a great experience to accelerate the development of our younger players,” Sherman said. “They have watched our upperclassmen capitalize in high-pressure situations while experiencing the emotions that come with a thrilling victory in the final minute of play. This will no doubt come into play in future matches when it is their turn to step up and deliver.”

BENEFICIAL GAMES

If you glance at the Hughesville girls soccer team’s schedule later in the year, you’ll notice the Spartans will be playing three games a week most times. But that’s fine with coach Cody Hack.

That helps get the team in the groove late as playoffs begin. So that’s why he’s fine with a tough, front-loaded schedule such as playing teams like Central Columbia and Crestwood in back-to-back games.

The Spartans lost both of those games, but for Hack, it allows his team to fine tune things and get things prepared for later in the year.

“Oh yeah, absolutely (it’s beneficial). With our schedule, our front-half, not game-wise but spaced out wise, we have a lot of games in October that were like three days a week,” Hack said. “So we give us some breaks up here so we can really see the film and start figuring it out and then we can start push all through October and get through the playoffs. But yeah, it’s absolutely beneficial.”

Central Columbia defeated the Spartans, 3-1, last week in an anticipated game between two solid programs. And there’s positive takeaways that Hack took from the game.

“We tell these girls all the time, we want to play the best people out there. District 4 is a dog fight, best part is we get them three games in,” Hack said. “It is what it is and we have 15 more games to figure it out and at least get us on the uphill trajectory going into playoffs.”

YOUTH SOCCER INVOLVED

On Saturday, Sullivan County hosted Jersey Shore in girls soccer and the Griffins had an exciting 2-1 win, earning the victory with a goal with two seconds left.

The Griffins also hosted its first ever AYSO Night in the process where the program invited all Sullivan County youth soccer players to attend the game, participate in warm ups with the team and also play a short scrimmage at halftime.

According to coach Jody McCarty, 17 AYSO players came out to support the team and participate and the players not only got to spend time with the team, but were also gifted squishy soccer balls from the Griffins.

Plenty of programs around the area have a version of AYSO Night, so it’s nice to see Sullivan County honor their youth programs as well this year for its first AYSO Night.

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 (5-0): The Green Dragons beat Shikellamy, 6-0, to extend the team’s win streak this season to five in a row. Lewisburg is playing outstanding defense as usual, allowing just one goal all year, that being Camp Hill’s lone goal. Teams have to really work to get a quality shot against Lewisburg, and the Green Dragons make life difficult for forwards.

2. MONTOURSVILLE (6-0): This is Montoursville’s second consecutive year starting 6-0 and the Warriors offense has been superb. Montoursville has outscored its opponents in its first five games, 25-2. Bryce Winslow led the offense with eight goals and two assists entering Tuesday’s games while Quinn Winslow has a team-high eight assists. The Warriors have playmakers all throughout the roster.

3. WELLSBORO (5-2): Wellsboro played tough in its two recent losses, losing just 2-0 against Athens and 2-1 in overtime to Milton before bouncing back with a 2-0 win against Williamson. A win over NP-Liberty (3-0) was sandwiched in between those losses.

4. MILTON (3-3): Milton gives its fans a great game it seems. Of Milton’s six games played, all but two have been decided by a goal. The Black Panthers edged Southern Columbia on the road last week in a close game, 2-1, and then beat Wellsboro in overtime, 2-1. Playing in close games is only beneficial as well as the players know they can’t afford to let up mistakes when the game’s close.

t-5. CENTRAL MOUNTAIN (4-2-1): The Wildcats’ four-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday with a 4-1 loss in Mill Hall to State College. The good news for Central Mountain is they’re well on their way to surpassing last year’s win total of seven after stringing together wins against St. Mary’s, South Williamsport, Penns Valley and Northumberland Christian in overtime. The Wildcats will have some tough tests coming up, including against Milton next week.

t-5. MONTGOMERY (2-2): The Red Raiders are winning some exciting games. First Montgomery beat Sullivan County with a goal with 24 seconds left to secure a win. Then this past Saturday, Montgomery beat Lourdes with another goal in the final minute. You can never count Montgomery out of a game, and those two wins prove why.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Dylan Sherman, Montgomery and Camden Dalrymple, Montgomery: The Red Raiders’ duo proved why they’re clutch players this past week. As noted in the column, Sherman scored the game-winner against Sullivan County with 24 seconds to play in the game for a 3-2 win. Then, against Lourdes in a 2-2 game, Sherman dished a perfect assist to Dalrymple, who put it in the back of the net for the game winner. Sherman had two goals and an assist vs. Sullivan and a goal and assist vs. Lourdes while Dalrymple had a goal and assist in both wins. They’re proving to be a tough duo to slow down.

GIRLS SOCCER

1. MILTON (4-0): After winning three games convincingly — the closest was a three-goal win over Mifflinburg — Milton was really tested in a close game on Monday against Montoursville. And credit the Black Panthers, in a 1-1 game they continued to pressure Montoursville’s back line and didn’t give up with opportunities en route to a 2-1 OT win. Sammy Roarty scored the game winner and proves to be a playmaker every game.

2. WARRIOR RUN (4-1-1): The Defenders are living up to their namesake after back-to-back shutouts against South Williamsport (5-0) and Loyalsock (4-0). The team spreads the ball around on the offensive end it seems every game as well. Nat Hall, Katie Zaktansky, Maura Woland and Brooke Ryder seem to be in every box score for Warrior Run.

3. MUNCY (3-0): It’s still early in the season, but Muncy is not only playing solid offensively, but defensively as well. Muncy has yielded just two goals all year: one to Millville and one to Troy. But coach Jason Gresh and Muncy know there’s plenty of season to play and tough opponents are on the horizon. Nonetheless, it’s been a great start to the year for Muncy.

4. HUGHESVILLE (3-2): Coach Cody Hack noted throughout the preseason and season how a tough schedule with quality opponents is beneficial, so the Spartans are worried about two losses to power Central Columbia (3-1) and to Crestwood (4-3). Hughesville bounced back to rout Williamson on Monday, 11-2. The Spartans have tough games all year which will have them battle tested come late October.

5. SULLIVAN COUNTY (3-1): The Griffins had an impressive road win at Jersey Shore last week before cruising past CMVT, 6-0. Sullivan County has seemingly found a solid 1-2 scoring punch in Lily McCarty and Quinn Pennella, who have combined for 14 goals through four games. The next four games will provide tough tests for Sullivan County with Montgomery, South, Muncy and Millville, three of which are on the road.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Brooke Wilcox, NP-Mansfield: North Penn-Mansfield has struggled to put up wins the last few years, but the players are motivated and talented and that applies to Brooke Wilcox as well. The Mansfield forward had an impressive four goals in Mansfield’s 5-1 win over Northeast Bradford, the team’s first win of the 2025 season. Wilcox also scored a goal in a tough 2-1 loss to Athens on Saturday.