William Tennent seniors JT. Stone, Ben Weir, Damian Dangler and Sean Metz were recognized for committing to continue their soccer careers at the collegiate level. (Photos provided courtesy of William Tennent High School)
“All these guys have a great work ethic,” Tennent coach Nick D’Andrea said. ‘Every one of them – they completed all of our fitness tests year after year. They set the bar really high for what we wanted to do. Our fitness test is no joke, and those guys are part of a special club we have at Tennent – if you meet the requirements and demands of the fitness test, you become part of that special club, and every one of those guys is a member of that special club.
“Sean and Ben did it all four years. When you have senior leaders and they’re the first ones to complete it – they’re coming in literally first and second place, it sets the tone for the rest of the program. It’s hard to find good leaders like that.
“When you have work ethic guys like that who set the tone as your seniors, that’s the biggest impact. The legacy they’re going to leave is their work ethic, and they continued to get better every year in the program. They didn’t just talk it. They walked the walk.”
Damian Dangler – Penn State Altoona (Soccer)
Coach Nick D’Andrea says: “Damian was the most underrated soccer player in our program, and I was happy to see him get first team All-Suburban One League. I thought he was going to stay local, but he’s going to venture out to Altoona. He’s super excited to go out there. It was kind of a late decision, but he was getting a lot of late offers. He had a fantastic high school career and got better every single year. He started playing freshman ball, worked his way up to jayvee, and then the last two years, he was the starting central midfielder, first team All-Suburban One League.
Sean Metz – York College (Soccer)
Coach Nick D’Andrea says: “Sean signed early. He fell in love with York College, their program and their coach. He’s another player who could play at the highest level. He’s a four-year varsity player and led our program in points the past four years. What’s crazy about that is his first two years we played him on defense, and he still leaves as the all-time scoring champ. To put it in perspective, he is the only player that I’ve ever coached or I can find a record of at Tennent who’s scored against every team in our conference. It was amazing that he was able to do that, and we didn’t play him at forward until junior and senior year.
“He also won a national championship with his VE Club team. JT Stone and Ben Weir did as well. They’re all on the same team. When they came in, we knew they were special. They’re just really good and they’re good friends as well. They all get along and support each other and that was a big factor for us.”
JT Stone – Penn State Abington (Soccer)
Coach Nick D’Andrea says: “I’m super excited because he’s going to Penn State Abington to play for Pat Morris, who’s a good buddy of mine. He (liked) JT because he’s so flexible - he can play outside back, he can play inside, he can play midfield, he could play center mid, he could play anywhere. Pat is doing a good job. He’s building his own program, and he’s bringing in a lot of local players. I know JT is excited, and he’s been out training already. He’s been training our younger guys, trying to get them prepared, but he’s also training himself.
Ben Weir – Ursinus College (Soccer)
Coach Nick D’Andrea says: “Ben was the toughest defender we’ve ever had. He was a team leader and captain. Everything revolved around him trying to shut down the opposition’s best player, so he was a great one-to-one, man-to-man defender. He’s won a national championship at the club level, and he was first team all-Suburban One League for us.
“He’s just an absolute stud and an absolute steal for Ursinus. He fell in love with the school, he fell in love with the campus. I thought he could have played at a higher level, but he’s going to be a great fit there. I think he’ll make an immediate impact, and I look forward to see how he grows. He’s a really bright student as well in the classroom. We wish him the best of luck. He’ll be the hardest piece for us to replace. He’s been on varsity since freshman year – he came in when we started, and we kind of built the program around him and Sean Metz.”
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