Northern Tier WEST Sports Report
MANSFIELD — Despite struggling through their third straight one-win season, the young North Penn-Mansfield girls soccer team improved both offensively and defensively in 2024.
Head Coach Maryann Wilcox had a lone senior on the roster in Olivia Likens, and guided the Lady Tigers to a 1-16-1 overall record .. playing to a 1-1 tie with Northumberland Christian (1-7-1) and earning a 3-2 win over CMVT (3-14-1) in their season finale.
Junior Brooke Wilcox scored 9 of North Penn-Mansfield’s 15 total goals on the season, up from their 14 scores in 2023, their 10 in 2022 and 5 in a winless 2021.
Wilcox assisted on two goals, while Likens had 2 goals and an assist on the year and the Tigers got a goal each from junior Karen Wetzel and sophomores Avalon Rew, Iris Irwin and Adalyne Yungwirth. Wetzel and junior Abby Garverick each had a pair of assists while Likens, Rew and sophomore Brooklyn Ragan each had one.
North Penn-Mansfield had three 1-goal losses on the year and another three by two scores, surrendering 66 goals on the year after giving up 80 a season ago and 75 in ’22.
Rew served as the Tigers’ main keeper and played 1,057 minutes in net, finishing with a 4.09 goals-against-average with 192 saves.
NP-Mansfield should return the majority of their roster next season, save for Likens, giving Coach Wilcox a solid core of experience as the Tigers look to continue their improvement shown in '24.