First Posted: 5/19/2014

Four Dallas High School seniors who all got their start on the fields of Back Mountain Youth Soccer Association will move on to play soccer at the collegiate level this fall.

AJ Nardone will play for The University of Scranton Royals, Zach Goodwin will play for the Susquehanna University Crusaders, Blake Pertl will play for the Philadelphia University Rams and Matt Saba will play for the Gwynedd Mercy University Griffins.

While the boys all got their start on the local Dallas soccer fields, their passion for the game and their skills and talent also had them playing for various club teams over the years. They were originally teammates with Wyoming Valley Soccer Club under the direction of Javier Rodriguez and then branched out to other clubs over the years.

Nardone and Goodwin most recently have taken the field with Lehigh Valley United under the direction of Greg Ramos and Mike Gorni. Saba has recently played for Upper 90 Soccer Training Academy under the direction of Rob Havard and Pertl has played for Northeast PA United Soccer Club under the direction of Mike Bridy.

In 2008, the boys found themselves on the same field once again playing for Dallas in the junior high division. They then advanced to the high school level where, under the direction of Coach Chris Scharff, continued to dominate the Wyoming Valley Conference. In the six years the boys played for Dallas, they compiled a record of 95-6-3 and won six Wyoming Valley Conference Championships and 2 District titles.