It was a magical, championship season for Lancaster Mennonite boys soccer in 2024.
But gone are nine seniors from the team that won the state championship for the Blazers last season.
For midfielder Lukas Kehler (left in photo), that means he now sees “more people younger than me than older" out on the field with him.
"So we (the returning players) are definitely going to have to be leaders.”
The words of Kehler, a junior, echo what long-time Coach Fred Winey teaches to his team.
“Even if we had everyone returning, there would be some new players, and it’s a new team and it’s a new year,” Winey says. “So you make sure … the same things are being put into play and these guys are learning to be leaders themselves.”
The Blazers won the Class 1A state championship in 2024, defeating Bentworth in overtime 1-0.
This year, the team will count on returnees like Kehler and defender Nolan Parsons (right), plus the growth of younger players, as it defend its title.
Winey, who began as Lancaster Mennonite’s coach in 2007, also won a state title in 2011, and has won the United Soccer Coaches East Region Coach of the Year award. He also won his 300th game early last season.
But he credits his players, saying that “one of the things that has been a key to our success has been the way our players try to embrace our principles that we try to stress as a coaching staff.
“Then, as they learn those things and go from their freshman and sophomore years to their junior and senior years, they’re the ones who are transferring those things to the younger guys by how they represent themselves.
“Instead of saying, “I’m a senior now, and I want mine,’ they’re giving back to the team and really trying to help those (younger) guys to come up to their level," he says.
LNP | LancasterOnline hosted Media Day at its downtown Lancaster office to connect local media with Lancaster-Lebanon League players and coaches.
