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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

AASchool W L T Rating TWP OWP TWPW OWPW TWPL OWPL
1Wyomissing11-0-0 0.773638 1.000000 0.496973 10.30 98.50 0.00 99.70
2Bishop McDevitt (3)7-1-0 0.695661 0.858974 0.496055 6.70 75.45 1.10 76.65
3Boiling Springs8-2-0 0.687767 0.803922 0.545799 8.20 93.55 2.00 77.85
4Trinity (3)9-2-0 0.660952 0.798165 0.493247 8.70 84.00 2.20 86.30
5Eastern York9-3-0 0.652148 0.769841 0.508301 9.70 91.85 2.90 88.85
6Bermudian Springs9-1-0 0.644986 0.875000 0.363858 7.70 59.60 1.10 104.20
7Susquenita9-1-0 0.637982 0.895349 0.323422 7.70 53.30 0.90 111.50
8Middletown5-2-2 0.607850 0.652632 0.553117 6.20 86.95 3.30 70.25
9Kutztown9-3-0 0.593509 0.733871 0.421955 9.10 82.45 3.30 112.95
10Tulpehocken7-3-2 0.569056 0.655172 0.463803 7.60 96.10 4.00 111.10
11Camp Hill4-3-1 0.562027 0.560241 0.564211 4.65 80.40 3.65 62.10
12Northern Lebanon8-4-0 0.554147 0.649123 0.438066 7.40 87.00 4.00 111.60
13Pequea Valley8-4-1 0.551517 0.628906 0.456931 8.05 92.30 4.75 109.70
14Annville-Cleona6-3-1 0.505471 0.621495 0.363664 6.65 60.55 4.05 105.95
15Millersburg6-2-1 0.495843 0.625000 0.337984 4.75 53.30 2.85 104.40
16Hamburg6-5-1 0.487894 0.462617 0.518788 4.95 103.55 5.75 96.05
17Kennard Dale2-7-0 0.408362 0.252632 0.598700 2.40 101.30 7.10 67.90
18James Buchanan2-6-0 0.400560 0.236842 0.600659 1.80 82.05 5.80 54.55
19Schuylkill Valley3-9-0 0.400065 0.258333 0.573292 3.10 109.90 8.90 81.80
20Lancaster Catholic3-8-0 0.370074 0.264000 0.499720 3.30 89.10 9.20 89.20
21Biglerville3-6-0 0.350326 0.274725 0.442726 2.50 77.30 6.60 97.30
22Lancaster Mennonite0-11-0 0.277566 0.000000 0.616814 0.00 104.55 10.30 64.95
23Oley Valley0-9-1 0.270395 0.041284 0.550420 0.45 85.15 10.45 69.55
24Littlestown1-9-0 0.248046 0.081818 0.451212 0.90 76.30 10.10 92.80
25Hanover (3)0-11-0 0.185592 0.000000 0.412428 0.00 71.35 12.70 101.65

2021 Northern Lebanon Girls’ Soccer Results

DateOpponentsOutcomes
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

LeagueOverall
WLTPCTWLTPCTGSGA
Pequea Valley5001.0007400.6362515
Annville-Cleona5200.7146310.6503410
Northern Lebanon5300.6257300.7002810
Lancaster Catholic2300.4002800.2002435
Lancaster Country Day2500.2865500.5003924
Lebanon0700.00001000.000997

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