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Jon Gerardi on soccer: Winslow brothers are big part of Montoursville’s success

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Bryce and Quinn Winslow high five during a game against Selinsgrove this year. The Winslow brothers are enjoying their last year as teammates as Quinn is a senior and the duo are key pieces to the Warriors's success this year.

Look at Montoursville’s stats in boys soccer, and you’ll quickly see that Bryce Winslow leads the team in goals with 15 and Quinn Winslow leads the team with 16 assists. And yes, if you’re wondering because of the last name, they’re brothers.

The Winslows have been playing soccer for years together and like most siblings, know one another very well. It’s what’s leading to their success on the field together, but more importantly is a big reason the Montoursville boys are 12-0-1 and playing outstanding soccer game in and game out.

“It feels nice,” Quinn said of playing alongside his brother and having success as teammates. “After I graduate and next few years, I’ll definitely look on it as a great memory.”

It also doesn’t hurt that they’re both more than speedy. The two are track standouts and their speed is evident any time the Warriors try to play a throughball into the attacking third. Not many defenders can go stride for stride with the Winslows on a breakaway.

“We’ve always known if we can push one through, give them a chance to make a run on one, that they’re going to run down most defenders. The two of them together work really well,” Montoursville coach Bryan Pauling said. “We have a lot of good midfielder players as well who work well to distribute the ball, trying to still use a little bit more width, we don’t do that as much as we should in some cases. If we can pop one over, we feel confident that Bryce will at least run it down, or Quinn, and get a shot. It’s definitely a part of our offense.”

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Quinn Winslow competes against Selinsgrove this year. Quinn and his brother Bryce are key parts of Montoursville's success this year.

“It’s a very nice weapon, it’s fun to use,” Quinn said. “We both know how to use it with each other so I’ll play balls to him, he plays balls to me. We work really well (together).”

Many of Quinn’s 16 assists have been to Bryce. They have a solid dynamic and are tough for teams to key in on and limit. And Quinn’s glad to have 16 assists, the most in the area and one of just two players who have double-digit assists this year. The other? Teammate CJ Lucas (13).

“I definitely have a good connection with my teammates. It starts in practice when we’re talking and working hard and I have to check my shoulders to know where my teammates are at all times,” Quinn said.

Montoursville’s 12-0-1 start is the best in program history, which speaks to the talent this roster has given some of the good teams over the years in Montoursville. And a lot of things have been key to that success.

“It’s interesting because we came into the start of the season we lost some really good players last year, so we were trying to think of who and how everybody would step up. This year, there’s just so much urgency to elevate everyone. They’re really working hard, the practices are good, a lot of videos. Just a lot more in-depth strategy for each game,” Pauling said to the key to the season. “We have a really, really good coaching staff that is preparing these kids every game: watching film, making sure we have a strategy, going to look at games and making sure we know who the opponent’s key players are. 

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Montoursville's Bryce Winslow competes against Selinsgrove this year. Bryce and his brother Quinn are key parts of Montoursville's success this year.

“They just fight. The game against Warrior Run was a bummer, we let one in early,” Pauling continued. “They fought back though to get the tie, similar the other night we were down one, fought back, ended up winning by one. They just have a lot of fight and a lot of heart to continue to win.”

And that success means the team has a target on their backs. Teams want to be the ones to hand Montoursville that first loss and ruin the unbeaten season. But, so far, every opponent has come up shy of that goal.

“I tell the boys every game we’re the boys to beat. Even though there are many other good teams out there, they look at our record and they say ‘we want to beat that team,'” Quinn said. “So we have to keep working hard.”

WILLIAMSPORT’S (NEW) ALL-TIME LEADER

Williamsport’s girls soccer team has been competing since 1995. There’s been numerous talented players to walk the halls and wear the cherry and white in those 31 seasons, but Jaelynn Helmrich can now say she stands out at the top in terms of most assists dished out by a Williamsport player.

DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Williamsport's Jaelynn Helmrich (18) became the program's all-time assists leader on Tuesday as she sits at 39 and counting, surpassing former record holder Erica Ludwikowski's 38.

On Tuesday, the Millionaires defeated Shamokin, 6-2, and Helmrich dished out an assist. It gave her 39 for her career and moved her past Erica Ludwikowski (2012-14), who had 38.

“Jaelynn came in her freshman year ready to play varsity soccer. She was second-team all-conference her freshman year. That was my first year coaching high school soccer, so it is amazing for me to see her break this record in her senior season,” Williamsport coach Beckham Sibiski said. “She has been first-team all-conference the last two years. For four years, she has been a focal point in our offense and has been an out-and-out playmaker for us year after year. As someone who often enjoys the assist even more than the goal itself, I couldn’t be any prouder of Jaelynn for this career accomplishment.”

Helmrich is humble though, and you won’t hear her brag about the milestone. But no doubt she’s excited.

The Millionaire had no idea she was tied prior to Tuesday with the record. It wasn’t until Sibiski took her off the field and told her that she found out and was more than surprised to hear it.

“It’s just the kind of player she is,” Sibiski said. “She shows up and gets it done — often selflessly — and is not caught up int he stats or her numbers.”

TURNING THE CORNER

Last fall was the first time that Montgomery’s girls soccer team qualified for the playoffs via win total since 2007. The Red Raiders went 10-10 and were 17 minutes away from winning the program’s first playoff game.

The seniors, juniors and sophomores on this year’s team want to get back. And more importantly, they want playoff qualifying to be the norm and not an outlier.

Taylor Snyder took the program over this year, and the Red Raiders are 6-6 and are close to once again clinching a playoff berth. Changing the culture at a program is never easy, but Snyder’s glad the players are buying into it and wanting to be contenders each season.

“They’re extremely motivated. We have a great senior class that leads by example. They know what it’s like to be there and know what it’s like to not be there,” Snyder said. “So the amount of motivation they have in them is substantial. You can see that in way they lead in practice and way they lead in games as well.”

Of Montgomery’s six losses, all but two have been close games by two or fewer goals. It shows the Red Raiders are competing game in and game out.

“The girls are extremely committed, not only in soccer but so many things they do. So many of these girls not only do soccer this season but they do theater, they do cheerleading, so they spread themselves very thin,” Snyder said. “But when they’re on the soccer field they play soccer. They give it everything they have and you can see that in their play, you can see that in their enthusiasm when they step on pitch. None of the losses we had have been because of a lack of effort. They give 100% when they step on the field.”

Prior to last year’s 10-win season, Montgomery had only won six or more games in a season since  2008 — 2015 with six wins and 2018 with seven.

Losing can be contagious, but so can winning. And Snyder and her coaching staff hope the team continues turning the corner in the right direction.

“Coming into this season, you hear ‘we don’t know what’s coming from Montgomery’ and ‘we don’t know what to expect’ and that just goes to show what a great they had last year and what they’re doing this year,” Snyder said. “I heard a lot of people say the quality of soccer they’re playing and how high it’s become and the level is just raised. It’s going to keep raising every game we play.”

LEARNING FROM THE BEST

McKylee Vollman wasn’t on Williamsport’s soccer team last fall. She decided to take a year off from playing the game after competing as a sophomore. But this year, Vollman rejoined the team and played as a goalie.

No one ever said playing goalie was an easy position. It takes a lot to read the field, know where a player may strike from, when to come out from the net, when to stay back and field the ball.

It can be daunting, but Vollman has embraced that challenge in between the pipes. It also doesn’t hurt that she has an outstanding goalie coach in Abbey Gerasimoff.

Gerasimoff won a state title with Bloomsburg her senior year and has two District 4 championships on her resume and a runner-up. She was a second-team all-league as a freshman and junior and honorable mention as a sophomore.

Oh, and she has 37 career shutouts, among the top all-time in District 4 history.

That’s not a bad coach to help you get better in goal.

“She knows that she was struggling a little bit throughout the year. She took a year off of soccer last year and actually just returned this year. So, I think it took a little bit of time to get into her groove,” Williamsport coach Beckham Sibiski said of his keeper. “We had a good goalkeeper coach working with her in coach Abby. So that’s helped and I think after a few of those games where maybe we did concede a lot but she was doing a lot for us, making good saves, saving balls above her head. She’s just booming with confidence now and you can see it (in games).”

Vollman has 78 saves so far this year and is averaging 5.6 per game. Vollman does well keeping Williamsport in games as well.

50-GOAL CLUB

Two players this past week reached the 50-goal milestone for their schools.

North Penn-Mansfield’s Brooke Wilcox had a seven-goal, one-assist performance in a 10-0 rout against CMVT on Monday afternoon and in the process, recorded her 50th and 51st career goals with her final two scores.

“Watching Brooke hit that 50-goal milestone makes me proud. It really made me smile to watch her teammates really trying their best to feed the ball to her to reach this goal. This kid has overcome some really big hurdles as far as injuries to come back out on the pitch and perform the way she does,” North Penn-Mansfield coach Maryann Wilcox said. “Last year she was sidelined for several games with an ankle injury that slowed her down for a while. She puts a lot of time in self improvement dribbling and shooting in the backyard on her own after she gets home from her regular practice.”

Wilcox plays soccer year-round and her dedication to the sport is evident. In the winter and spring, Wilcox can be seen playing for the Soaring Capitals Soccer Club in Elmira, New York.

On the same day, Lewisburg standout Viktor Permyashkin had a second-half goal which gave him his 50th for his career. The Green Dragon has been a player defenses have focused on the past three years and he still comes up big game after game. He also is slowly inching closer to reaching 50 assists for his career as he is currently at 47.

“Viktor is a team-first player. He is willing to do whatever the team needs. He plays in multiple positions and is willing to let others shine,” Lewisburg coach Ben Kettlewell said. “Most 50-goal scorers have a big year or two in their careers. Viktor has been steady for his four years. He has never scored more than 20 goals in a single season. The fact that he is almost at 50 assists for his career says a lot about him as a player.”

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

JON GERARDI’S TOP 5 RANKINGS

BOYS SOCCER

t-1. LEWISBURG (12-0-1): The Green Dragons are ranked No. 4 in the state in Class AA and are behind only Northwest Lehigh of District 11, Faith Christian of District 1 and Lancaster Catholic of District 3. Lewisburg is one of the district’s best teams every year, and has been the measuring stick since their first state title in 2000. It’s no surprise to see Lewisburg ranked fourth. Lewisburg beat Milton, 7-0, and Central Mountain, 3-1, this past week.

t-1. MONTOURSVILLE (11-0-1): Speaking of state rankings, Montoursville is ranked No. 8 in Class AA and are one of three District 4 schools in the boys Class AA state rankings with Lewisburg (No. 4) and Midd-West (No. 7). The Warriors keep playing tough each game and earning victories. After Saturday’s win against Selinsgrove, 2-1, Quinn Winslow noted that he knows teams are trying to be the ones to hand Montoursville their first loss and they have a target on their backs.

3. WELLSBORO (9-3-1): The Green Hornets bounced back after a 2-0 loss against Hughesville on the road to beat North Penn-Liberty, 2-0, before battling Athens tough for a scoreless double overtime draw. Athens and Wellsboro play great games against each other, and this past week was the latest example. The Green Hornets have some tough opponents on the schedule, but Wellsboro’s last win sealed a District 4 playoff berth.

4. MONTGOMERY (8-4): The Red Raiders entered this week riding a four-game winning streak with victories over Muncy (1-0, OT), Towanda (6-1), Sullivan County (2-1) and Shamokin (4-0). The Red Raiders are a win away from securing their third straight District 4 playoff berth since reinstating the program in 2020.  

t-5. CENTRAL MOUNTAIN (6-5-2): Give the Wildcats credit, not many teams can hang with state-ranked Lewisburg. Yes, the Wildcats fell to the Green Dragons, 3-1, last week, but Central Mountain’s back line and goalie held a strong Lewisburg team to just three goals. That game should also give the Wildcats some confidence moving forward, especially as a game against Midd-West still looms on the schedule.

t-5. HUGHESVILLE (7-7): Hughesville has already matched last year’s win total and the Spartans have four games still on the schedule. Hughesville needs two more victories to capture a playoff berth, which would be its first since 2019. The Spartans are coming off a tough 3-0 loss to Central Columbia

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK — Camden Dalrymple, Montgomery and Isaac Ayres, Lewisburg: Dalrymple is a scoring threat every game no matter who Montgomery is playing, and that was evident this past week. The Red Raider had a goal in a 2-1 Mid-Penn win against Sullivan County on Thursday before he scored twice in a 4-0 win over Shamokin on Saturday. Ayres has been doing well finding the back of the net recently for the Green Dragons. Ayres had a goal in a 3-1 win against Central Mountain before posting two goals and an assist in a 7-0 rout over Milton.

GIRLS SOCCER

1. WARRIOR RUN (12-2-1): Warrior Run had arguably one of its toughest and closest games on Tuesday night. It was a game that Warrior Run won with barely any time to spare on the scoreboard. Literally. The Defenders put in the game winner on a Maura Woland shot with 0.7 seconds left. You can’t win any tighter of a game than that. The Defenders have three tough games left to close out the schedule against Montoursville (a team who’s better than their record indicates), Central Columbia and Selinsgrove. This is the third straight season in which the Defenders have won 12 or more games.

2. HUGHESVILLE (9-4): The Spartans three straight wins this past week have Hughesville back in the postseason once again. Elizabeth Wolfe clinched Hughesville’s playoff berth with two goals in a 3-0 win over Bloomsburg on Tuesday. Cody Hack has Hughesville playing solid late in the season, which is the time you want to peak as a team.

3. MILTON (10-2): The Black Panthers lost a heartbreaker to Warrior Run with 0.7 seconds to play, but Rod Harris always has his team ready to step up to the challenge of the next game, and Milton has already shaken off that rough loss. That snapped a five-game winning streak for Milton. Milton’s offense overshadows its defense, but Sienna Short has been playing well in goal the last handful of games and keeps stepping up. She had 18 saves in the loss to Warrior Run and kept Milton in the game.

4.  MUNCY (9-2-1): Fun fact, Muncy is the only area team to be ranked in the state, and one of only four District 4 teams this year to be ranked, joining Shikellamy (Class AAA, third), Central Columbia (Class AA, ninth) and Southern Columbia (Class A, fifth). The Indians have gone 0-2-1 the last three games, but consider those losses were to state-ranked Southern and nine-win Hughesville with a tie against rival South Williamsport. Jason Gresh noted on Tuesday how the Indians have a very tough schedule to close out the year, but it’s something the team wants to get them playoff prepared.

t-5. SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT (5-3-2): Some fans may have panicked a bit when the Mounties started the year 1-3. But South Williamsport’s players adjusted on the field with some position rotations, moved some pieces around and now the Mounties are 5-3-2 and have gone 4-0-2 in their last six games. That early panic has been calmed to say the least. The Mounties played outstanding against state-ranked Muncy, tying the team 1-1 in double overtime. It’s the second straight double overtime game after tying Lewisburg 2-2.

t-5. WILLIAMSPORT (6-7-1): The Millionaires are clicking at the right time and gaining momentum. Williamsport has gone 4-1 in their last five games, with that lone loss being a narrow 2-1 loss to a talented Milton team. It’s quite the turnaround for the Millionaires after a rough 1-6-1 start to begin the year. 

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK — Deborah Shultz, Williamsport and Althea Street, South Williamsport: Shultz has been on an offensive tear as of late and has been key in Williamsport getting closer to getting back to .500. Shultz had three goals and an assist against Mifflinburg in a 7-1 win, posted two goals and two assists in a 6-1 win against Athens and had a hat trick and assist in a 6-2 win against Shamokin. Give Street credit as well. She came up big in the last two games for South Williamsport in goal in two double overtime ties. The Mounties’ keeper had 15 saves in a 2-2 draw with Lewisburg before posting six in a 1-1 tie against Muncy three days later.

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