BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports Report
The senior led NEB boys’ soccer team had a bounce back season, going 13-5 on the year after a few seasons finishing just under .500.
On the overlook it was a fantastic season, we made every team work for every inch of the pitch, chasing the ball on all three levels of play,” said NEB coach Scott Merritt. “Two own goals cost us two games and all but one loss was within a score - three of the losses we out played and had better stats except for that one all important one. We ended up with some outstanding play both directions, some outstanding defense and goal play kept us in every game and we gave up a very low amount of goals on the regular season ( a 1.27 goals per game average), which is outstanding work.”
They opened the season with a win over Elk Lake (3-1), then lost to the eventual league champs Athens (1-0).
They rebounded with five straight wins, beating Montgomery (5-1), Williamson (4-1), Sullivan County (4-2), Galeton (7-1), and Towanda (7-0).
They hit a 3-game skid after that, falling to NPL (2-1), Wellsboro (1-0), and Millville (2-1).
A win over South Williamsport (2-0) ended that streak and started a 4-game run as they also had wins over Troy (5-2), Towanda (6-1), and Williamson (4-2).
A home loss to Blue Ridge (4-1) followed, but they bounced back with a win over Wellsboro (2-1). They ended the year with home wins over Galeton (1-0) and Troy (4-1).
In districts they fell to Southern Columbia (5-1).
“This was do to some very strong play by several players we had on the back line,” Merritt said. “Dan Barrett's play in many games from the back was outstanding, a career highlight night would be at Wellsboro in which he took on speed demon striker 1v1 all night and removed said players contribution for the evening. Freshman Landon Chapman stepped in due to injury and missing players, he was getting minutes every game but played outside back for the second half of the season. He had many phenomenal games but in Wellsboro had the task of sticking with the player their offense went thru and kept him contained on the night in amazing fashion. Landon Knolles matured so much and absolutely played some of the most consistent and smooth technical defense - he did not have an off game. Dayton Russel returned to soccer after a prolonged hiatus ( cross country ) and absolutely played lights out, a nasty injury kept him from playing the whole season at defense and made him miss games but his play was great and was a outstanding teammate.”
It was Eli Stanton and Tyler Kuhn that drove most of the team’s success.
“And of course Eli in the middle the fastest player in the NTL, and voted most annoying to play against by coaches cause every time they thought they made it thru us he outran the player and took the ball from them,” said Merritt. “He was voted Defensive Player of the Year by coaches and it was well deserved; the best individual defensive player for several years now, was also a good leader and one of our captains. Tyler lead the league in individual scoring by a large margin, (frankly he scored more goals than a few teams totals) he also had a good amount of assists, was a team leader a captain, and a excellent teammate. He was voted by the coaches of the league the All-state player, a great honor.”
They also had some strong supporting players around them.
“We also lead the league in goals scored by a very large margin this in many games was due to strong ball control, lots of overlapping runs by players like Dan, the every game effort by players like Anthony who not only scored some goals but was a leader in assists on the year, some great games from Brody, and Carsen, and some tenacity from Big Ben would have been enough to win many games but then you add in the season that Tyler Kuhn had and you get the recipe for some fantastic games,” Merritt remarked. “We had some decisive wins against some very good teams this year, made some amazing memories as a team and a soccer family, and more smiles and giggles than one could ask for.”
Looking ahead to 2026 they have some big shoes to fill, especially with Stanton and Kuhn, but feel they have some strong momentum going into next year.
“We lose some amazing seniors including what would be considered two generational type players,” Merritt said. “All of them ( Ed, Tyler, Dayton, Carsen, Puza , Eli, Ben) have left their marks on the school, the field, the team and most certainly me. People cannot be replaced, but we have players returning who are very good and some great talent joining us next season. We will be different, there is no way around that, our style of play may even change, but the future is looking bright. Different isn't bad, it's just different, and this true of every new season.”
