HS SOCCER: Blue Mountain boys look to repeat league success

Sep. 5—Blue Mountain added to its boys' soccer history last season, capturing its 18th Schuylkill League championship since play began back in the early 1990s.

But the Eagles head into the 2022 season after suffering some major graduation losses.

Republican Herald Player of the Year Aidan Valentine is gone, and that might just be the biggest loss.

Valentine, an All-State selection, led the area last season with 46 goals, including one in the 2-0 league championship victory over Pine Grove. He also added 12 assists. Also lost to graduation are Torrin Rabenstein, who contributed 10 assists; and keeper D.J. Burkhard, who pitched six shutouts, including the league title match.

That's a lot to replace, particularly for a team looking to add to that massive total of league titles.

That, however, is exactly one of the goals head coach Chris Brauer and his team hold heading into the '22 campaign.

And, the cupboard isn't bare.

The Eagles return another prolific scorer in junior Ryan Mundy, who scored the other goal in the championship victory while finding the back of the net 19 times as a sophomore. He also added eight assists. Also back is senior Dylan Smerlick, who had a fine season with eight assists.

And Burkhard? Well, he's back, sort of, joining the staff as the team's goalkeeper coach.

Still, repeating will be no easy task.

Other teams have the league title on their to-do list, which should make for an entertaining couple months.

Division I

"We have high expectations for 2022 and have worked hard in the offseason," said Brauer of this year's Eagles squad. "The Schuylkill League stands to be tough again and we'll have to play to our capabilities to succeed.

"Although we are replacing some key players lost to graduation like Aidan (Valentine) and D.J. (Burkhard), this year's senior class is up to the task of providing solid team leadership and there are quite a few younger players ready to step up."

Pine Grove figures to be in the mix in the division and the league, along with Lehighton, which has a strong veteran core, is off to a fast start and presented head coach Dave Yob with the 100th victory of his career with the program Saturday.

Pine Grove's most significant graduation losses are leading scorers Ethan Hannevig (15 goals, six assists) and Hunter Deichert (13 goals, two assists), along with keeper Landon Schaeffer (seven shutouts).

Back for the Cards to help ease the transition and looking to take over in leadership roles for head coach Marv Weber's squad are a trio of seniors in Haydn Williams (five goals, three assists), Bryce Shollenberger (three goals, one assist) and Garrett Brandt (six assists).

"We're returning several key starters and key players that came off the bench," Weber said. "We have numbers again this year, and some of our younger players got valuable playing experience last year.

"We expect to be competitive in our division and in the league."

At Lehighton, which got off to a fast early season start with victories in its first three games, has a strong, veteran group led by senior Mason Marchessault (13 goals, two assists) and sophomore keeper Bryce Miller (152 saves), which has Yob excited.

"A veteran group returns for Lehighton," Yob said. "Nine starters return, along with several subs who saw considerable playing time last year. We're very optimistic we can put together a good season this year."

Including Marchessault, the Indians return their top five scorers from last season, with seniors Nick Zeigenfuss (eight goals, five assists), Matt Sofranko (six goals, four assists) and A.J. Light (six goals, three assists), and sophomore Mason Nailor (four goals).

"This group is excited about the season," Yob said.

Division II

Schuylkill Haven and Nativity battled it out atop the division last season and both appear primed for a repeat this season.

The Hurricanes, under second-year head coach Andre Georgevic, son of the late coaching legend Vanco Georgevic, has a 33-man roster with plenty of talent in the fold.

And, like the Division I favorites, there are major graduation losses but a program in place to make a successful transition.

Last year's three leading scorers, Michael McGoey (25 goals, nine assists), Astin Daniel (13 goals, six assists) and James Munster (four goals, three assists) have graduated. However, players like seniors Nate Frederick (three goals) and Reese Felty (two goals, two assists) and junior Calvin Munster (five goals, one assist) are back and primed to step up. Another senior who the team had high expectations for, Bryce Umbenhaur, is recovering from an injury and may not be available all season.

"Overall, morale has been high, attitude has been good and players are improving on a daily basis," Georgevic said. "Schuylkill Haven's 2022 success will be heavily dependent upon some players developing into scorers.

"Players' and coaches' expectations are set high, as always — put ourselves into contention for the division, league and District 11 titles."

At Nativity, which posted a school-best 16-5 overall record last season, the talented trio of juniors Ethan Grabowski (13 assists) and Michael Kadziela (13 goals) and sophomore Ayden Zamudio (19 goals) are back and form the nucleus of what should be a very talented team that holds league and district expectations.

"We're excited to be in a position to once again compete at a high level and challenge our team to play a more ball-possession style of play," head coach Ed Burke said. "We look to be more aggressive and continue to adapt and evolve our formations to grow as a squad."

A team looking to make more noise in the division this year is Lourdes.

The Red Raiders finished third in the division last season while competing with only 13 players on the roster. This year, head coach Earl Reed has 27, including leading scorer Layth Kanafani, who is back for his senior season.

"This season, we'd like to increase our win total with the leadership of our seven seniors and do the best we can against our league opponents," Reed said.

Contact the writer: croth@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6025; @repheraldsports on Twitter