Local Sports

Plenty of local teams eye deep playoff runs in District 4 boys soccer

Every year it seems that there's an upset in the district playoffs that no one sees coming. That's what makes the district playoffs fun.

There's favorites who can cruise by, and there's underdogs who can upend an entire season. It's why the game isn't played on paper with rankings and brackets, but on the pitch for 80 minutes of hard-fought battles.

The District 4 playoffs begin with games on Tuesday, and there's a lot of teams motivated to make runs. And for the teams seeded lower? They're hoping they can knock a team off here and there.

CLASS A

Eight teams make up the Class A bracket with Benton earning the top seed in the field this fall. Benton secured that top spot thanks to a 16-1-1 mark. Benton lost its third game of the year to Midd-West on the road, 6-1, and tied Millville on the road in Mid-Penn action in late October, 3-3.

Benton earned some quality wins through the regular season outside the Mid-Penn, such as beating a strong Warrior Run team (1-0), beating Hughesville (9-0), beating Central Mountain (1-0), Loyalsock (5-1) and Milton (7-2). Benton is ranked No. 5 in the state in Class A after previously not being ranked.

The Tigers face Northeast Bradford, the eighth seed, in the first round.

Fourth-seeded Galeton has a matchup against fifth-seeded Millville in the other quarterfinal in the top of the bracket.

Galeton has been led by a duo of outstanding scorers in Max Schloegel (27 goals, 10 assists) and Trey Sykora (20 goals, 10 assists). Those two will be a focal point of Millville's defense.

Warrior Run, competing in Class A this year, is the No. 2 seed in the field and has a quarterfinal matchup against seventh-seeded Meadowbrook Christian.

The Defenders have seen a number of talented teams over the past two decades, but surprisingly have not won a title since the 2004 season. Warrior Run is hoping this year it can change that.

The Defenders have a three-headed scoring attack led by senior Carter McCormick has 21 goals this year and leads the team despite not playing in three games. Gideon Kennel has scored 17 goals and eight assists and Ori Kennel has 11 goals and 21 assists. The Defenders also have senior Ryan Kemock who can put in goals as he has eight goals and six assists.

Max Burden has stepped up well in goal this year as a senior and has recorded eight shutouts with just 17 goals allowed in 18 games with 82 saves.

PREDICTION

QUARTERFINALS--Benton def. Northeast Bradford; Millville def. Galeton; Warrior Run def. Meadowbrook Christian; Juniata Christian def. Northumberland Christian. SEMIFINALS--Benton def. Millville; Warrior Run def. Juniata Christian. FINAL--Warrior Run def. Benton.

CLASS AA

The Class AA field has a lot of talent throughout it and there should be a lot of great matchups to watch as the bracket advances.

Central Columbia, much like its girl counterparts, are seeded No. 1. The Blue Jays are also ranked No. 2 in the state like the girls program is and are behind only District 10's Fairview.

The Blue Jays clinched their third consecutive HAC league title this year by going 8-0 and are 17-0-1. The only tie Central Columbia suffered was against Northwestern Lehigh, 1-1, on Oct. 10.

Central Columbia has five outstanding scoring threats and is a team that is really tough to defend against. Torin Karns has 36 goals and 18 assists, Aaron Dolak has 18 goals and eight assists, Colby Brewington has scored 14 goals, Jameson Lapos has 13 goals with 18 assists and Jayden Crabb has nine goals and 17 assists.

Central Columbia has a first-round matchup against Lourdes, seeded eighth.

In the other quarterfinal in the top of the bracket, fourth-seeded Wellsboro gets fifth-seeded Towanda in an NTL showdown. The Green Hornets and Towanda split this year with Wellsboro losing the first matchup, 3-1, before rebounding to win in late September, 5-1.

Gabe Cuneo has 14 goals this year and Liam Stevens has nine as those two, in addition to other players such as James Doughtie, Jacob Smith and Cody Tomlinson, have shown they can score and propel Wellsboro.

Loyalsock has a tough draw after clinching a playoff berth by having to face defending Class AA state champion Lewisburg, who is seeded No. 2.

The Lancers don't have one standout scoring threat, but rather a number who step up when they see an opportunity. Luke Edmonds has a team-high eight goals with seven assists but Wes Johnson has 10 assists with seven goals, Justus Miller has six goals, David Bjorkman has six goals and three assists, Aiden Wetzler has six goals and four assists and Gabe Mauro has four goals with two assists.

They all have stepped up throughout the year. In goal, freshman Kason Burrows had played well since his first start and has three shutouts this year and only 19 goals against.

Loyalsock knows though it has to play outstanding from start to finish against Lewisburg.

The Green Dragons lost a good amount from last year's state championship team, but Lewisburg still has a lot of playmakers all over the field. That's evident with Jack Kohl (12 goals, four assists), Keegan Crosby (nine goals, 11 assists), Daedrian Campbell (nine goals, 12 assists) and Eli Abunassar (eight goals, 10 assists) leading the offense while Everett Good (seven goals, six assists) and Dylan Vogel (seven goals, three assists) are also talented playmakers.

Lewisburg plays well from a defensive perspective year in and year out and 2026 is more of the same as the Green Dragons have allowed just eight goals this year.

Gabe Pawling has established himself as one of the program's best goalies of all-time as he has 12 shutouts this year and 55 for his career, second behind only Logan Cho's 64.

In the bottom half of the bracket, sixth-seeded Hughesville faces third-seeded Williamson.

The Spartans are playoff bound in consecutive years for the first time since 2019-18. Hughesville owes a lot of its success this year to Carter Gormont, a junior who exploded offensively this year for an unbelievable 41 goals and seven assists. The offense runs through Gormont and he keeps delivering.

PREDICTIONS

QUARTERFINALS--Central Columbia def. Lourdes; Wellsboro def. Towanda; Lewisburg def. Loyalsock; Hughesville def. Williamson. SEMIFINALS--Central Columbia def. Wellsboro; Lewisburg def. Hughesville. FINAL--Central Columbia def. Lewisburg.

CLASS AAA

Midd-West moved up to Class AAA this year and is seeded No. 1 in the field. The Mustangs are also hoping to capture their second District 4 title in four years.

Midd-West is a model of consistency when it comes to soccer. Since becoming Midd-West in 2004 when Middleburg and West Snyder merged, the Mustangs have not once missed the postseason.

Midd-West has a trio of goal scorers with 10 or more goals with Evan Devine (17 goals, 19 assists), Abram Sellers (17 goals, eight assists) and Derek Keister (11 goals, five assists). Parker Eppley (seven goals, two assists) and Gabriel Romig (six goals, eight assists) are also talented scoring threats. Midd-West senior Nathan Horst has 15 assists as well, second-most on the team.

Midd-West has to go up against Selinsgrove in the first round, a team which has won four consecutive District 4 Class AAA titles. The Seals haven't missed the playoffs since the 2013 season.

Landen Messimer has played well in goal for the Seals this year, recording 80 saves and averaging 4.7 per game while posting seven shutouts as well.

Montoursville, seeded second, will play Athens, seeded third, in the Class AAA semifinals.

The Warriors are having another great year this season. Offensively, that's been led by CJ Lucas, a senior with 20 goals and eight assists. He averages 1.1 goals per game and is a scoring threat whenever he gets the ball in the attacking third.

Others have stepped up when Lucas is double teamed or man-marked, however, such as freshman Levi Nolan (five goals, six assists), Riccardo Montini Bellosio (four goals, one assist), Liam Lucas (two goals, four assists), Solomon Gregory (two goals, two assists) and Maksim Martinez (two goals).

Defensively, the Warriors' back line is talented and in goal, Mason Fry keeps playing well. He has 79 saves (4.4 per game) with seven shutouts throughout the season.

Athens is 11-5-2 as it enters districts.

PREDICTIONS

SEMIFINALS--Midd-West def. Selinsgrove; Montoursville def. Athens. FINAL--Midd-West def. Montoursville.

DISTRICT 2-4 CLASS AAAA

Williamsport's boys soccer team suffered a tough 4-0 loss last year in the District 2-4 Class AAAA semifinals to Wyoming Valley West after a dramatic 4-3 win in which they rallied to beat Scranton. Now the Millionaires are hoping they can capture the program's first district title since 2020.

The Millionaires have a quarterfinal matchup against No. 6 West Scranton in the playoffs.

Connor Hofstrom has led Williamsport's offense this year with 13 goals scored while teammate Isaac Balza has added seven. Those two have been a potent 1-2 punch for Williamsport while Brayden Ungard has four goals scored.

In goal, Max Fink has stepped up time and time again helping Williamsport reach 11 wins. He has 87 saves, tied for third-most in the area with North Penn-Liberty's Cooper Barnes. Fink also has four shutouts this year.

Williamsport's schedule has them very battle tested after having played teams State College, Central Mountain, Midd-West, Lewisburg, DuBois, Selinsgrove and Montoursville.

West Scranton has a number of players who can score goals such as Kellan Burnside (nine goals), William peres Sanchez (six goals, eight assists) and Aaron Clough (five goals).

Wyoming Valley West enters the playoffs with a 14-4-1 record and is seeded No. 1 in the district bracket.

PREDICTIONS

QUARTERFINALS--Scranton def. Delaware Valley; Williamsport def. West Scranton; Wilkes-Barre def. Hazleton. SEMIFINALS--Wyoming Valley West def. Scranton; Williamsport def. Wilkes-Barre. FINAL--Wyoming Valley West def. Williamsport.