Local Sports

Jon Gerardi on soccer: Hofstrom, Balza have been key to Williamsport’s success this season

Whenever Williamsport's offense gets into the attacking third, there's a solid chance the Millionaires are looking for Connor Hofstrom or Isaac Balza to get into position to take a great shot.

The Millionaires have plenty of other kids who can step up as well, but it seems Hofstrom and Balza come up big anytime the Millionaires need a score. Down 1-0 last week against Selinsgrove, it was that duo who delivered.

Hofstrom scored on a penalty kick before Balza used some outstanding quick footwork and speed to get by some defenders and buried a shot to put Williamsport ahead en route to a thrilling 2-1 win.

That's how it seems to have gone all year for the Millionaires. When Williamsport needs a spark, Hofstrom or Balza seem to come up and deliver each time.

"They both have the technical, tactical and IQ to play off each other," Williamsport coach Brett Hofstrom said. "I still think there's another level for both of them to work within lines of each other. They both want to win."

That determination and motivation to excel and win has Williamsport at 11-4 and vying for a top spot in the District 2-4 Class AAAA playoffs, which are right around the corner.

The Millionaires entered this past weekend as the No. 2 team in Class AAAA behind only Wyoming Valley West (11-4-1). Wyoming Valley West had a narrow edge in the power ranking ratings with a .670 to Williamsport's .634. But regardless, the Millionaires keep putting up wins and are rolling at the right time of the year.

Hofstrom leads Williamsport with 12 goals this year while Balza has put in seven. And having those two players being a focal point of opposing defenses helps others get into position to score, such as Brayden Ungard (four goals).

"They have got to stop multiple people on this team. And this team is a team, and I stress the word team," Hofstrom said. "It's probably been the best team atmosphere we've had in the three years that I've been the coach."

DEFENSE COMING UP BIG

At the end of September, Williamsport suffered one of its most lopsided losses of the year, a 7-1 setback against perennial district power Midd-West at Balls Mills. It was the second six-goal loss Williamsport suffered this year, the first coming three games in at a tough State College team on the road, 6-0.

But learning from losses is just as important as earning a win and Williamsport coach Brett Hofstrom made sure the Millionaires learned what they did wrong against Midd-West and used it moving forward.

Just a few days later, Williamsport met up with another district power in defending PIAA Class AA champion Lewisburg. While the Millionaires lost, they held a strong Green Dragons team to just two goals.

And since then? Three straight wins.

The Millionaire defense has been playing well since that Midd-West loss and have posted a shutout and had two strong efforts against Selinsgrove and Danville.

While Williamsport has a number of players on the back line stepping up, Hofstrom was quick to give credit to sophomore Adoniram Hill, who's grown from his freshman year as an anchor on the defense.

"Adoniram probably doesn't get enough credit for his leadership. He's really grown into a leader on this team," Hostrom said. "He's really starting to read the game well and organizing our team when we get ourselves out of shape. He's been a huge part of our defensive line. I can't say enough about the kid."

And in goal, Max Fink has routinely come up with big save after big save. Against Selinsgrove, Fink prevented the Seals from scoring in the second half as Williamsport rallied to an exciting 2-1 win.

Fink is among the top saves leaders in the area and his four shutouts is tied for fifth most in the area.

"He's been big for us all year. A senior captain and senior leader. He knows what's going on," Hofstrom said. "We need him to continue to do what he's doing and keep us in games when we need those big saves."

WELCOME TO THE CLUB

Becoming a 50-goal scorer is quite the accomplishment for any high school soccer player. More times than not, you see that milestone come in a player's senior season after four great years of competition.

But every now and then, a player has an outstanding freshman year and the milestone becomes within striking distance as a sophomore. That was the case for Muncy standout Kiki Woodward. The sophomore set the Muncy freshman scoring record with 32 last year and reached the milestone this past week of 50 career goals.

"I am extremely proud of Kiki. It is a great accomplishment for her, especially reaching this milestone as a sophomore. She had some monumental goals last year, and she and Ava (Eyer) have developed a great offensive chemistry," Muncy coach Jason Gresh said.

That duo, plus Ella Nagel, were an outstanding offensive punch last year and Woodward picked up where she left off in 2025. This year, Woodward leads Muncy with 21 goals scored and has dished out five assists.

"She worked hard in the offseason to keep improving. She battled through injury all season, and I am proud of the grit and determination she's shown," Gresh said. "She is man-marked almost every game, which makes this milestone even more impressive. I am excited to keep watching her improve throughout her career."

ANOTHER PLAYOFF BERTH

Prior to Hannah Summerson taking the Montgomery girls soccer program over in 2024, the Red Raiders had had numerous struggling seasons one after another.

From 2008 through 2023, Montgomery never made the postseason and had just two seasons in that span with six or more wins.

Those losing seasons kept piling up and confidence wasn't very high. But Summerson had faith in the girls on the roster in 2024 when she arrived and got them to believe in themselves.

After Taylor Snyder took over last year as an interim coach for Summerson, Summerson was back on the sidelines this year and Montgomery is playoff bound...again...for a third straight season.

To say Summerson has helped change the culture at Montgomery wouldn't quite do it justice.

"I think once that first year when they realized that it was possible for them, I think they never lost that feeling of wanting to get back there. It's not even been an option the past two years to not make the playoffs. That is the minimum and we're hoping to just be able to get past what we've been the past two years," Summerson said. "I think those senior captains this year have really helped to get the younger girls kind of to like buy in to the whole winning mentality and just change the name for Montgomery."

One thing that's eluded Montgomery girls soccer over the decades however is a playoff win, and that's something Summerson and the current Red Raiders want to finally do.

"I think they're motivated, but we still have an understanding of how difficult it's going to be. We're not going in overconfident, but being prepared and hoping all of our preparedness will bring us to that goal we want," Summerson said. "They all want it, but they know how difficult it's going to be. So just keep that perspective and be prepared and hopefully the win will come."

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

South Williamsport knew that it would have a young team this year. There were a number of graduation losses from last year's outstanding senior class which won three District 4 Class A championships. But that didn't mean the Mounties were going to just accept a losing record.

South had a young team, a challenging schedule and an uphill battle to push to qualify for districts, but the Mounties did exactly that.

A 6-0 win against Mid-Penn rival Montgomery on Wednesday gave the Mounties a playoff-clinching win. It prevented this South team from being the first since 2016 to not make the playoffs.

"Our schedule is brutal for a Class A school. The teams we play are brutal and we had some big wins that helped us," South Williamsport coach Marc Lovecchio said, noting wins against Loyalsock and Jersey Shore. "Then we had to play Warrior Run, Hughesville, Selinsgrove; some good teams. ... Our athletic director (Brett Herbst), God bless him, decided to make it worthwhile for us to make the playoffs."

And it took South Williamsport playing tough down the stretch to qualify, too, after a tough 0-3-2 stretch in the middle of the season.

Lovecchio knows the postseason will be far from easy.

"There's going to be no one we haven't seen except Bloomsburg or Line Mountain. Who's to say how we're going to do. We're young and relatively inexperienced," Lovecchio said. "But, our goal was to qualify and then see how we do."

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/X at @JonGerardi.

JON GERARDI’S TOP 5 SOCCER RANKINGS

BOYS SOCCER

1. Lewisburg (13-2-1): Lewisburg's 13-game winning streak was stopped with a scoreless draw at home against Hazleton on Saturday afternoon. Hazleton, which has just two wins this year, played well defensively against the Green Dragons, who have a number of offensive weapons. Lewisburg closes the year with tough games at Midd-West and Montoursville. Lewisburg lost to rival Midd-West, 3-1, on Monday.

2. Montoursville (10-4-3): The Warriors are playoff bound for the fifth consecutive season thanks to winning their last four games, beating South Williamsport, Williamson, Sullivan County and Williamsport. Montoursville had a tough two-game stretch to wrap the regular-season up, having to go up against two top teams in the power rankings in consecutive games at Williamsport and hosting Lewisburg. The Warriors beat Williamsport in a thriller, 3-2.

3. Williamsport (11-5): The Millionaires currently are the No. 2 seed in the District 2-4 Class AAAA playoffs, which means at least one home playoff game. Williamsport closed the year out on Monday with a game against a talented Montoursville team as one last tune-up before the district playoffs begin. The MIllionaires lost that game, 3-2, but battled tough.

4. Warrior Run (14-3): After back-to-back losses against Midd-West (2-1) and Lewisburg (4-0) -- arguably one of the toughest two-game stretches you can get within District 4 -- the Defenders bounced back with back-to-back wins over Jersey Shore and Selinsgrove, giving up just one goal in that span.

t-5. Wellsboro (14-2-2): The Green Hornets saw their seven-game winning streak snapped with a 1-0 home loss to Williamson on Thursday afternoon. Wellsboro had one game left in the regular season with a road trip Monday to Northeast Bradford before preparing for a district run.

t-5. Loyalsock (9-6-3): In their last four games, the Lancers went 1-0-3 with a win over Bloomsburg, 4-0, and ties with Central Mountain (2-2) and scoreless draws vs. Shikellamy and Muncy. This is the third straight playoff berth for Loyalsock, and eighth in the last nine seasons.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK -- Dylan Sherman, Montgomery and Dylan Hensler, Jersey Shore

Both Sherman and Hensler had monster games this past week. In Montgomery's senior night game last week against Mid-Penn rival Muncy, Sherman found the back of the net five times for the Red Raiders' 5-0 win. For Hensler, he also came up big in a two-goal win over South Williamsport. The Bulldog scored four goals in a narrow 4-2 win against South Williamsport to ensure the victory.

GIRLS SOCCER

1. Warrior Run (11-6): The Defenders suffered a tough 3-2 loss at Lewisburg last week but rebounded by beating a 13-win Midd-West team on the road, 2-1, as Scarlett Dunkleberger came up big with two goals. This is the fourth straight year the Defenders have won 11 or more games in a single-season.

t-2. Montoursville (8-5-3): Montoursville dropped two of its last three games, falling to Bloomsburg and Selinsgrove by 2-0 scores with a 5-0 win over Danville between those losses. The Warriors have three games left in the regular season and are playoff-bound regardless of the outcome of its final two games after a 1-1 draw with Williamsport.

t-2. Muncy (7-6-3): Give the Indians credit, they're playing well at the right time of the year. Muncy is 4-0-1 in their last five games with quality wins over Montgomery and Loyalsock and a hard-fought 3-3 draw with South Williamsport in which the Indians rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie it. Hailey Ganoe has played well in goal this year as well for Muncy. Muncy hasn't qualified yet, but the Indians are playing with a lot of confidence with two games left.

4. Hughesville (9-5-2): After a 2-0 loss on the road against Milton, the Spartans traveled to MIll Hall and beat Central Mountain thanks to three players scoring goals. Kalia Hack came up solid in goal to preserve the win as well as she keeps making big saves throughout the year. Hughesville has one game left but the Spartans are playoff bound for the sixth straight year and are hoping for one more win to make it six straight 10-win seasons.

t-5. South Williamsport (7-4-6): The Mounties went 1-0-2 last week with a draw against Muncy before scoring six second-half goals to defeat Montgomery and qualify for districts. That was followed with a tough scoreless draw at Shikellamy. The Mounties drew to a 1-1 draw with Lewisburg.

t-5. Williamsport (6-4-7): The Millionaires are 2-0-2 in their last four games and beat Lewisburg and Shamokin with draws against Danville and Athens in that span. Williamsport has ended with a tie six times this year and are currently No. 2 in the District 2-4 Class AAAA power rankings, meaning if it holds up the Millionaires will host a playoff game.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK -- Brynli Carnevale, Williamsport and Mackenzie Miller, Loyalsock

Carnevale keeps coming up in big situations for the Millionaires as a freshman. This past week, she found the back of the net twice in a 2-0 win over Shamokin, helping propel Williamsport to a win. For Miller, she had a great performance in a win against Shikellamy on Saturday. The Lancer scored a goal and also dished out an assist for the win.