Spencer Reinford

BY GREG WILLIAMS

Sentinel reporter

gwilliams@lewistownsentinel.com

MANSFIELD — East Juniata High School product Spencer Reinford completed his first season as the head coach of the Mansfield Mountaineers’ women’s soccer team.

Reinford came to Mansfield from Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Va,, where he has served as assistant women’s soccer coach since 2023. Some of his main duties at Bridgewater included recruiting, creating and executing practice plans, and video analysis.

Prior to Bridgewater, Reinford served as an assistant soccer coach at Bethany College from 2021 to 2023. He also has extensive collegiate playing experience after competing for both the University of Rio Grande and Coastal Carolina University programs.

At University of Rio Grande, Reinford was part of three national tournament appearances, two River States Championships and was a member of the 2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Champion team. At Coastal Carolina, Reinford was a member of the Sun Belt Conference Championship team in 2016.

So, he’s experienced the highs of the sport. After his first year at Mansfield, he’s now experienced some of the lows. Mansfield finished the year at 0-10 and were outscored a combined 61-0.

To make matters worse, the Mountaineers had their season shortened by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference from 18 games to 10 games due to a lack of players. Mansfield’s team photo showed 14 players, which included two goalkeepers. The good news is that they were mostly freshmen and sophomores (one junior), so theoretically most would be back for several seasons.

Mansfield’s games with PSAC opponents did not count in the league standings. The Mountaineers’ closest losses were 1-0 to East Stroudsburg and 2-0 at Lock Haven. They also fell 18-0 at Shepherd.

Yoder hits links for Juniata golf

Jaron Yoder (McVeytown/Mifflin County) concluded his junior season for the Juniata College golf team.

According to the school’s website, there was only one match that Yoder played in. On Sept. 18, Yoder played as an individual at the Susquehanna Fall Invitational, shooting an 88. Yoder saw two putts drop for birdie to finish in 60th place.

The Eagles B team took part in the event, finishing fifth out of 16 teams by shooting a score of 308 at Susquehanna Valley Country Club in Hummels Wharf.

Walters helps Juniata booters to ECAC crown

Juniata College fell short of qualifying for the six-team Landmark Conference soccer playoffs by two points, but that didn’t mean the Eagles missed out on the postseason.

By sandwiching road wins at McDaniel and Rutgers-Newark around a neutral-site victory over William Paterson, Juniata claimed the ECAC Tournament crown.

Junior Brant Walters (Mifflintown/Juniata High School) played six games at defender, including two starts, for the Eagles. Juniata went 10-5-7 overall, including 2-3-4 in conference play.

Walters did not post any statistics in those six games: on Oct. 21 in a 0-0 tie with Lycoming College; on Oct. 25 in a 2-1 loss at Drew University; on Oct 28 in a 1-0 loss to Catholic University; on Nov. 16 in a 2-1 win at McDaniel; on Nov. 22 in a 1-0 victory over William Paterson; and on Nov. 22 in a 2-1 triumph at Rutgers-Newark. The last three games were for the ECAC title.

Mummah plays in 10 games for Juniata soccer team

The Juniata women’s soccer team just wrapped up a 5-8-4 campaign, including 1-6-2 in the Landmark Conference. The roster had a local flavor with sophomore Haley Mummah (Mifflintown/Juniata) playing in 10 games, including three starts, as a midfielder and defender. The former Juniata High School standout did not have any statistics.

Juniata had a winning record for much of the year before dropping its final five games and six of seven games overall. The Eagles put together a seven-game unbeaten string with wins over Washington and Jefferson College, Penn State-Altoona and Notre Dame (Md.) and ties against Moravian University, Wilkes College, Alvernia University and Albright College.

Strohecker earned academic honors at Millersville

Aubrey Strohecker (Lewistown/Mifflin County) put up impressive numbers on the soccer pitch for the Millersville Marauders this season and even better ones in the classroom as the junior forward was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.

Strohecker holds a 3.69 grade-point average as a marketing major. She was named All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division First Team after leading the Marauders with 13 goals and seven assists.

Strohecker started all 19 games for Millersville. Her 33 points easily ranked first on the team as did her 13 goals, 54 shots, 33 shots on goal and four game-winning goals.

Her game-winning goals were scored: On Sept. 17, a 2-1 win over West Chester; on Sept. 24, a 2-1 win at Lock Haven; on Oct. 22, a 3-1 win over Lock Haven; and on Oct. 25, a 2-1 win over Shippensburg.

Millersville finished 9-7-3 overall and 6-5-3 in the PSAC East. In the PSAC Tournament, the Marauders won 2-1 at Bloomsburg and 4-0 at Slippery Rock before falling 1-0 to Kutztown.

Academic All-District honorees must hold a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher, and either start 66% or play in 90% of their team’s games. Strohecker earned the honor in his first year of eligibility and will advance to the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration.

Bickhart scores academic award at California (Pa.)

Kaitlin Bickhart (McVeytown/Mifflin County) started all 17 games this season for the California (Pa.) Vulcans soccer team. The junior defender and midfielder helped California to a 2-12-3 mark, including 2-9-3 in the PSAC West Division.

Bickhart also made her mark in the classroom as well, getting a nod to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.

Academic All-District® honorees must hold a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher, and either start 66% or play in 90% of their team’s games. Strohecker, a junior, earned the honor in his first year of eligibility and will advance to the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration.