Three area teams look to advance in state tournament
- Deborah Shultz of Williamsport and (2) of Montoursville fight for posession of the ball at the Balls Mills Soccer Complex. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
 
- Breah Phillips of Williamsport takes a big stride before taking a shot on goal against Montoursville at the Balls Mills Soccer Complex. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
 

Deborah Shultz of Williamsport and (2) of Montoursville fight for posession of the ball at the Balls Mills Soccer Complex. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
Just three area teams are still competing in the soccer postseason between boys and girls competition.
Muncy captured the program’s first-ever District 4 Class A championship in girls soccer on Saturday with an exciting 1-0 win against Southern Columbia. Williamsport’s girls soccer team earned a shootout win against Wilkes-Barre, the Millionaires’ first title since a span of five in a row from 2016-20.
And Lewisburg’s boys team? Well, the Green Dragons did what they do best and that’s claim district gold as Lewisburg beat rival Midd-West, 2-0, to win the 13th district title since 2010, and the sixth title in the last seven seasons.
All three are hoping to advance out of the first round of the state tournament, which begins today.
A breakdown of all three area games.

Breah Phillips of Williamsport takes a big stride before taking a shot on goal against Montoursville at the Balls Mills Soccer Complex. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette
PIAA CLASS AAAA GIRLS
Williamsport vs.
CB South at Balls Mills, 5 p.m.
Central Bucks South enters states as the District 1 fourth-place finisher and has a long road trip to Williamsport where the Millionaires get to play a first-round state game at home under the lights.
CB South is 15-6-1 this year and enters states with a two-game losing skid, having lost to Downingtown West, 2-1, before finishing fourth with a shootout loss to Lower Merion that was 1-1 after two overtime periods.
CB South has a solid offense and has scored 61 goals this year and is averaging nearly three goals per game.
Williamsport knows it’s in for a tough test. The Millionaires have had a rocky season this year and are just 10-9-1 but played great in the postseason to earn two wins to claim district gold.
McKylee Vollman has been battle tested throughout the year in goal. The senior has 117 saves and is averaging 5.9 per game and has battled against tough teams this year such as Warrior Run, Hughesville, Central Columbia, Shikellamy, Montoursville, Milton, Selinsgrove and Athens, all of which were playoff contenders this year and two — Central Columbia (Class AA) and Shikellamy (Class AAA) — won district titles.
Deborah Shultz has played well her senior year by leading Williamsport with 17 goals and nine assists while freshman Loisa Hofstrom has 11 goals with seven assists and senior Jaelynn Helmrich has nine goals and 10 assists. Junior Breah Phillips has been a great offensive threat as well as she has seven goals and five assists.
PIAA CLASS A GIRLS
Muncy vs.
York CatholiC at
Shikellamy, 5 p.m.
York Catholic is the District 3 runners-up this year and enter states with a 12-7 record. The Fighting Irish lost in the District 3 championship game to Brandywine Heights, who will face Southern Columbia, the District 4 runners-up.
Brandywine Heights beat York Catholic, 6-3, in the final. York Catholic earned a tough 3-2 win against fourth-seeded Shalom Christian Academy in the District 3 quarterfinals before advancing to the final with a 3-0 win against 13-win Delone Catholic.
Brandywine Heights held a three-goal halftime lead and didn’t let the Fighting Irish rally.
Muncy has been playing superbly the last few games. The Indians have rattled off nine straight victories and outscored its opponents in three district games, 8-1. That lone goal came in the final ten minutes against Line Mountain when the Eagles scored to cut the deficit of a game all but sealed.
Muncy’s offense is outstanding this year with more than 100 goals scored, but its defense has been just as stout. The Indians haven’t allowed a team to score more than one goal against them since Millville put in two on Oct. 2.
Muncy’s back line and Eva Nagel have played well all year. Offensively, the Indians have been lead by three outstanding players in junior Ava Eyer (31 goals, 11 assists), freshman Kiki Woodward (30 goals, nine assists) and senior Ella Nagel (14 goals, 25 assists).
PIAA CLASS AA BOYS
Lewisburg at
Lake Lehman, 6:15 p.m.
Lewisburg doesn’t look ahead. It’s task is the next practice and the next game, and that’s it. For the Green Dragons, that next game up is against a talented Lake Lehman team.
The Knights are 21-1 this year and won the Wyoming Valley Division III with a perfect 15-0 record. The Knights have scored an outstanding 91 goals this year and have won 20 consecutive games en route to the District 2 championship.
Lake Lehman cruised throughout the district tournament. The No. 1-seeded Knights beat Scranton Prep — last year’s District 2 champion — 3-0 in the quarterfinals before routing fourth-seeded Dunmore, 8-0, in the semifinals. In the finals, Lake Lehman earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over No. 3 Tunkhannock to claim gold.
Lake Lehman has a three-headed senior monster in terms of scoring led by Andrew Mathes who has 24 goals and eight assists. Andrew Morris has 13 goals and three assists and Aiden Gallagher has put in 10 goals with four assists. In addition, Lake Lehman can get offensive production from numerous others such as Hunter Palka (six goals, 12 assists), Kolby Shook (nine goals, five assists) and Scott Egbert (eight goals, eight assists) to name a few.
In goal, Andrew Chapple has 84 saves with an impressive 14 shutouts.
Lewisburg has shown how well of a team they are defensively. The Green Dragons have allowed just four goals all season, only two of which have come from play as two were penalty kicks.
That’s a credit to a great back line by the Green Dragons led by players like Grayson Barner, Riley Gulden-Luthi and Logan Kitchens. Gabe Pawling has been great in goal with 61 saves and 17 shutouts.
Isaac Ayres (24 goals, eight assists), Viktor Permyashkin (24 goals, 17 assists) and Keegan Crosby (eight goals, 16 assists) have combined for 56 goals and 41 assists.






