By ANDREW HOWE

The Bellefonte Area High School boys’ and girls’ soccer 2018-2019 season is underway. After a devastating loss in the district finals last year, the boys team is looking to make a run back to districts and claim the title. The girls team is looking to perform at a very high level.

After losing 14 seniors to graduation last year, this year’s boys’ team is led by nine seniors: Travis Billet, Moryelle Fernandez, Andrew Hovis, Joey Maggs, Daniel Methven, Evan Nyquist, Andrew Schomer, Andrew Sharp and Zach Spearly. Being their senior year, they are looking to win districts after losing out the last two years.

“If we stay together as a team and continue to win as a team, we have the potential to go really far,” Evan said.

Head coach Scott Martz believes that making the playoffs is a must each year along with giving a challenge for the mountain league championship.

“We just want to keep getting better and build from game to game,” Scott said.

The team knew that the numbers were going to be low this year, so they changed the game plan up and they want to possess the ball for at least sixty percent of the game.

“Passing is our key to success, it’s proven to be successful,” Evan said.

Junior Shane Cronin considers that communication and team chemistry are key to the team’s success as well.
“If we can talk and communicate what we need and sometimes not even need to talk and things start to just happen then we’ll be golden all season,” Shane said.

So far the team has a record of 13-2-0 (13-0 Mountain League).

Senior Andrew Sharp thinks nothing can stand in the way of the team’s goals.

“We have the best team atmosphere this year that it’s absolutely amazing to have that and it definitely shows on and off the field,” Andrew said.

The girls team is led by seniors Cati Besch, Maddie Polkinghorn, Carolyn Seibel, Leah Simmon and Harley Stahlman. They are looking to compete to improve everyday. Cati wants the team to always learn, improve, and develop as a team so that we can be the best we can for each other.

“As long as we all come with the right mindset and determination to improve, we will accomplish our goals as a team,” Cati said.

Just like the boys team the girls believe that communication and cooperation are very important to them.

“As long as everyone is communicating, we’ll all stay close friends, which is very important to having a successful team atmosphere,” Cati said.

As a leader, Carolyn Seibel can tell the difference this year then in years past.

“You’re looked at as more of a leader than a teammate and you have a lot of responsibility,” Carolyn said.

The whole team is looking to go out each game and compete to the best of their abilities. Their record so far this year is 9-7-1 (8-4-1 Mountain League).

On October 30, the boys soccer accomplished their dream and got a hard fought 2-1 victory over Tyrone in the District finals, crowning them district champions. This was the first time in the history of the school that the boys team won the district title.

They will be advancing into the state tournament playing their next game on November 6 in Pittsburgh.