Double the fun

BELLEVILLE - Not often do high school teams turn to freshman to do the heavy lifting.

But for Belleville Mennonite's boys soccer team, that was the case against Northumberland County Christian Monday afternoon.

Noah Anders scored a hat trick and Belleville Mennonite's leading scorer Andrew Miller carded three tallies as well en route to a 6-5 win over the Warriors.

Article Photos

Sentinel photo by BRADLEY?KREITZER
Belleville Mennonite’s Noah Anders (22) advances the ball past Northumberland Christian’s Kyle Schoeppner (13) and Doug Ramsey Monday in Belleville. See more photos online at cu.lewistownsentinel.com.

"I talked about leadership and it happened to come from a freshman," Belleville Mennonite coach Brian Renno said. "That got us jump started. For us to have to play off a freshman we have some things to work on."

Despite getting a pair of hat tricks on the offensive end, things were rough going from the start for Belleville.

Northumberland Christian's Zach Newberry, who also has three goals, scored less than three minutes in on a header to give the Warriors a quick lead. At the close of the first half, the Trojans found themselves down 3-2.

There wasn't a whole lot of emotion from the Trojans, Renno said. And that led to three first-half goals by the visitors and ultimately allowing five goals.

"I felt like the whole atmosphere here today there wasn't any emotion," he said. "Our team didn't create any emotion. We came out really flat."

That was evident for the first 40 minutes. But Belleville was able to equalize in the final 20 minutes of the half.

The Trojans' first goal came from Anders when Austin Byler found the freshman streaking down the middle of the field. Anders buried the equalizer and got Belleville Mennonite on the board.

Then, in a span of 33 seconds with five minutes remaining, each team traded goals.

This time it was Warrior freshman David Mahoney who got to Belleville Mennonite keeper Sammy Kauffman. The ball bounced off Kauffman and Mahoney was able to find the back of the net.

But Miller came right back and scored for the Trojans on a setup from Alex Suydam for the second equalizer in the game.

However, the Trojans went into the second half down 3-2 following a Micah Scanzillo goal with less than two minutes to play.

"We were able to equalize but it was still nonchalant," Renno said. "It seemed like we weren't really motivated."

Coming out of the first half, Anders and Miller carried the Trojans on their backs at the 30-minute mark in the second half.

The freshman got the next two goals for Belleville Mennonite in a span of two minutes. His first came when Kim served a ball to the net and Anders toed the ball in the net. His next was off a corner kick.

After the ball bounced a few times off the foot of Miller, Anders headed the ball in the net.

"For Noah to take some weight that was great," Renno said. "Some of the upper classmen were even taking his lead."

Two more goals from Miller, one in the 14th minute of play and then one in the 18th, gave Belleville Mennonite a 6-3 lead. And as Renno started to pull some of his starters, Northumberland County Christian got it going.

The Warriors missed a penalty kick with 10 minutes left in the second half. But three minutes later, Newberry cashed in on a header.

Nearly three minutes after Newberry's second goal, the Warrior added another after he found himself wide open in front. Just like that, it was a 6-5 game with five minutes to play.

"I took some guys out and we weren't containing (Mahoney)," Renno said. "He was just attacking. We were giving him ground and not playing help defense. That led to the goals."

Fortunately for the Trojans, that's how the game would end. But Renno wasn't pleased with allowing five goals, the most his team has allowed all season.

"I give them credit," he said. "After we scored six, they were like walking through mud. If they didn't miss that penalty kick we'd still be playing."

Belleville Mennonite (7-2-1) travels to Ligonier Valley Thursday.