BY JEFF FALK

FREDERICKSBURG – There exists this prototypical scenario for teams competing in scholastic sports. Enter a season with hope, work hard to improve and seek to extend the campaign into the postseason.

That’s the trajectory that the Northern Lebanon girls’ soccer team is currently on.

On a sunny Saturday morning on Northern Lebanon High School’s brand new artificial turf field, the Vikings continued to trend upward with a 3-0 non-league blitzing of their visitors from McCaskey. Hanna Wanyo registered a hat trick for Northern Lebanon, one which included a pair of early goals that helped the Vikings take control of the flow of play.

With the triumph, Northern Lebanon moved to 9-4 overall. In the latest District Three power rankings, the Vikings were seated 12th in an AA classification which takes ten teams for its postseason.

The loss dropped McCaskey to 3-8.

“Yes, the playoffs would be a good realistic reward for us,” said Northern Lebanon head coach Jeff Snyder. “The original goal was to win the section (Four of the Lancaster-Lebanon League) again, and it’s not out of the question. There is no single powerhouse in the section. I would like to at least make the league playoffs and districts again. We’ve just got to put away our chances.

“We started the season very strong,” continued Snyder. “But we played nine games in the first two weeks and it physically beat us up. I feel we’re above where we started, but not where we need to be or where we can be. We have improvement. This team may be better than past teams at possessing the ball. If we can capitalize on that, we’ll be fine.”

Kind of like they did on Saturday.

Just 4:50 into the contest Wanyo was sent ahead by sophomore Maleah Bishop. Wanyo had time to size up McCaskey keeper Sarah Crowley, before sliding a left-footer along the ground and inside the right post.

A mere 40 ticks later, Wanyo scored again to make it 2-0.

This time, she accepted a feed from the right part of the field by junior Kacie Weaver. Wanyo blasted a hard drive that the sprawling Crowley got her gloves on, but the ball spun threw her gloves, on to the turf behind her and into the net.

“Hanna’s not always recognized for goals,” said Snyder. “She’s not typically our best goal scorer. She’s a playmaker. She’s a well-rounded player. We can put her anywhere and she’s going to go a good job for her.

“It is a good result,” Snyder continued. “This is the second time we played them (the Red Tornado), and the first time was down there (Lancaster). We like certain conditions and we didn’t get them down there. We needed a win. We needed a few goals in the back of the net. We needed a good game.”

Thirteen minutes before halftime, Wanyo struck one more time.

Taking a short drop pass from Weaver, Wanyo struck a well-placed 20-yarder just under the cross bar. Although it would be the last goal Northern Lebanon would score on the morning, the Vikings maintained their offensive push throughout the second 40 minutes of action.

“It doesn’t change my approach to things,” said Snyder of his club’s two-goal cushion. “We want to continue to attack and move forward. If you try to play defensively with a 2-0 lead against a good team, they’re going to score on you. You can’t sit on it. I don’t look at the game differently with a two-goal lead.”

Northern Lebanon’s unwavering attack and tight-marking defense limited the Red Tornado’s number of chances and quality of chances. The Vikings out shot McCaskey 19-3 and enjoyed a 6-1 margin in corner kicks.

Senior goalkeeper Ashlyn Messinger added to her school record for shutouts in a career with her 23rd overall.

“I felt like we did pretty well defensively,” said Snyder. “One of our starters on defense was on vacation, so we had a freshman filling in and she did alright. But our defense is pretty solid. We need Ashlyn to be aggressive back there and take charge.

“With the players we lost from last year’s team, I knew we had to work hard,” added Snyder. “I didn’t doubt that we’d win. As a group, as a team, we’re solid. We just need to make sure we finish the opportunities we have.”

PIAA District Three Class AA Power Rankings

AA	School	W	L	T	Rating	TWP	OWP	TWPW	OWPW	TWPL	OWPL
1	Wyomissing	11-	0-	0	0.773638	1.000000	0.496973	10.30	98.50	0.00	99.70
2	Bishop McDevitt (3)	7-	1-	0	0.695661	0.858974	0.496055	6.70	75.45	1.10	76.65
3	Boiling Springs	8-	2-	0	0.687767	0.803922	0.545799	8.20	93.55	2.00	77.85
4	Trinity (3)	9-	2-	0	0.660952	0.798165	0.493247	8.70	84.00	2.20	86.30
5	Eastern York	9-	3-	0	0.652148	0.769841	0.508301	9.70	91.85	2.90	88.85
6	Bermudian Springs	9-	1-	0	0.644986	0.875000	0.363858	7.70	59.60	1.10	104.20
7	Susquenita	9-	1-	0	0.637982	0.895349	0.323422	7.70	53.30	0.90	111.50
8	Middletown	5-	2-	2	0.607850	0.652632	0.553117	6.20	86.95	3.30	70.25
9	Kutztown	9-	3-	0	0.593509	0.733871	0.421955	9.10	82.45	3.30	112.95
10	Tulpehocken	7-	3-	2	0.569056	0.655172	0.463803	7.60	96.10	4.00	111.10
11	Camp Hill	4-	3-	1	0.562027	0.560241	0.564211	4.65	80.40	3.65	62.10
12	Northern Lebanon	8-	4-	0	0.554147	0.649123	0.438066	7.40	87.00	4.00	111.60
13	Pequea Valley	8-	4-	1	0.551517	0.628906	0.456931	8.05	92.30	4.75	109.70
14	Annville-Cleona	6-	3-	1	0.505471	0.621495	0.363664	6.65	60.55	4.05	105.95
15	Millersburg	6-	2-	1	0.495843	0.625000	0.337984	4.75	53.30	2.85	104.40
16	Hamburg	6-	5-	1	0.487894	0.462617	0.518788	4.95	103.55	5.75	96.05
17	Kennard Dale	2-	7-	0	0.408362	0.252632	0.598700	2.40	101.30	7.10	67.90
18	James Buchanan	2-	6-	0	0.400560	0.236842	0.600659	1.80	82.05	5.80	54.55
19	Schuylkill Valley	3-	9-	0	0.400065	0.258333	0.573292	3.10	109.90	8.90	81.80
20	Lancaster Catholic	3-	8-	0	0.370074	0.264000	0.499720	3.30	89.10	9.20	89.20
21	Biglerville	3-	6-	0	0.350326	0.274725	0.442726	2.50	77.30	6.60	97.30
22	Lancaster Mennonite	0-	11-	0	0.277566	0.000000	0.616814	0.00	104.55	10.30	64.95
23	Oley Valley	0-	9-	1	0.270395	0.041284	0.550420	0.45	85.15	10.45	69.55
24	Littlestown	1-	9-	0	0.248046	0.081818	0.451212	0.90	76.30	10.10	92.80
25	Hanover (3)	0-	11-	0	0.185592	0.000000	0.412428	0.00	71.35	12.70	101.65

2021 Northern Lebanon Girls’ Soccer Results

Date	Opponents	Outcomes
9/04 10:00 am	Northern Lebanon Big Spring		Nonleague
9/07 4:00 pm	Lancaster Country Day at Northern Lebanon	0 5	League
9/08 7:00 pm	Annville-Cleona at Northern Lebanon	2 3	League
9/11 10:00 pm	Northern Lebanon at Schuylkill Valley	1 0	Nonleague
9/13 7:00 pm	Northern Lebanon at Pequea Valley	0 1	League
9/15 4:00 pm	Lancaster Catholic at Northern Lebanon	0 1	League
9/16 7:00 pm	McCaskey at Northern Lebanon	3 1	League
9/18 1:30 pm	Middletown at Northern Lebanon	0 3	Nonleague
9/23 4:00 pm	Northern Lebanon at Lebanon	10 1	League
9/25 11:00 am	Northern Lebanon at Lancaster Country Day	3 1	League
9/29 5:00 pm	Northern Lebanon at Annville-Cleona	0 2	League
10/02 10:00 am	Susquenita at Northern Lebanon		Nonleague
10/04 7:00 pm	Northern Lebanon at Lancaster Catholic		League
10/07 7:00 pm	Fleetwood at Northern Lebanon		Nonleague
10/11 4:00 pm	Lebanon at Northern Lebanon		League
10/13 4:00 pm	Pequea Valley at Northern Lebanon		League
10/14 7:00 pm	Northern Lebanon at Cedar Crest		Nonleague

Lancaster-Lebanon League

Section Four Standings

	League	Overall
	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	GS	GA
Pequea Valley	5	0	0	1.000	7	4	0	0.636	25	15
Annville-Cleona	5	2	0	0.714	6	3	1	0.650	34	10
Northern Lebanon	5	3	0	0.625	7	3	0	0.700	28	10
Lancaster Catholic	2	3	0	0.400	2	8	0	0.200	24	35
Lancaster Country Day	2	5	0	0.286	5	5	0	0.500	39	24
Lebanon	0	7	0	0.000	0	10	0	0.000	9	97

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