State College Boys Soccer Looks to Repeat as D-6 Champs

The State College Area High School varsity boys soccer team was definitely successful in 2018. After all, the Little Lions put together a 14-7-2 record, were crowned the District 6 champs and finished in the top eight in the state.

This year, the team will be without nine starters from the 2018 team, including Mid Penn MVP and all-state player Ben Vollmer, who will be playing at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg this season.

Head coach Danny Orton, in his eighth season, said this year his squad will have the depth needed to play deep into the playoffs, and there will be several attacking options with the offense.

Six letter winners return to the Little Lions in Alex Mikula, Marc Rodgers, Matt Crawford, Grady Ballard, Garrett Callenberger and Will Staniar. Orton said he hopes these letter winners will take a leadership role on the team to develop the new back four players and new goal keeper.

Orton said his goals for the season are similar to that of the team — compete in every game.

“We want to get the small things right and push for a Mid Penn title, a district title and make a run in states,” said Orton.

State College starts the regular season on Aug. 31 at the Ty Yonkin Memorial Classic Cup in Lock Haven.