Defending state champion Northwestern and Pleasant Valley both started their girls soccer seasons in style Friday, with the Tigers posting an 8-0 shutout of Fleetwood and the Bears rolling past Jim Thorpe 11-0. Palmerton’s Connor Hibell also paced the local cross country field at Moravian Academy’s Lion Invitational.

GIRLS SOCCER

Fleetwood-Northwestern

Defending state champion Northwestern opened its season in dominant fashion with an 8-0 non-league shutout of Fleetwood.

Sophia Schaffer scored four goals and added two assists to lead the Tigers, while Amelia Glassberg chipped in a goal and two assists.

Northwestern 8, Fleetwood 0

Fleetwood 0 0 — 0

Northwestern 5 3 — 8

Goals — NW: Schaffer 4, Kherington Yezik, Glassberg, Bella Smith, Juliet Snyder.

Assists — NW: Schaffer 2, Glassberg 2, Snyder, Dylan Ritter, Marley DeLillo, Mykaela Yanders.

Goalkeeper saves — NW: Olivia Reinhart 3, Hannah Newcomer 2.

Records: Northwestern (1-0); Fleetwood (0-1).

Pleasant Vy.-Jim Thorpe

Pleasant Valley rolled to an 11-0 non-league victory over Jim Thorpe in its season opener.

Peyton Foder and Marta Perry each recorded hat tricks, with Foder also adding two assists and Perry contributing one. Keegan Merklin scored twice and had an assist, while Payton Shillady, Josie Fetterman, and Lexi Krasniqi each tallied one goal. Savannah Sacci dished out two assists, with Bailey Clifford, Rylee Rath, and Izabella Bernardo also providing helpers.

The Bears outshot the Olympians 60-1 and held a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks.

Pleasant Valley used its full bench, playing 20 athletes and rotating three goalkeepers. Sadie Rizzo started the first half, while Bernardo and freshman Haley Ott split the second half, with Ott making one save to close out the shutout.

For Jim Thorpe, Giada Wise-Macchioni finished with 25 saves in goal.

Pleasant Valley 11, Jim Thorpe 0

Pleasant Valley 4 7 — 11

Jim Thorpe 0 0 — 0

Goals — PV: Foder 3, Perry 3, Merklin 2, Shillady, Fetterman, Krasniqi.

Assists — PV: Foder 2, Perry, Merklin, Sacci 2, Clifford, Rath, Bernardo.

Shots on goal — PV 60, JT 1.

Goalkeeper saves — PV: Rizzo 0, Bernardo 0, Ott 1. JT: Wise-Macchioni 25.

Records: Pleasant Valley (1-0); Jim Thorpe (0-1)

VOLLEYBALL

Lehighton-East Stroudsburg South

Lehighton posted a 3-1 non-league victory over East Stroudsburg South, winning by scores of 25-13, 25-16, 22-25, 25-20.

Autumn Clewell guided the Indians with 23 assists, 5 aces, and 3 digs, while Aleea Yeakel contributed 13 digs and 4 aces. Juliana Lucykanish added 9 kills, 4 digs, and 2 aces, and Jada Williams chipped in with 7 kills and 2 digs. Alexis Holben recorded 6 digs, and Sophia Serfass tallied 6 kills, 3 digs, and 2 aces.

Lehighton also won the junior varsity match in three sets.

Lehighton 3, East Stroudsburg South 1

(25-13, 25-16, 22-25, 25-20)

GIRLS TENNIS

Pleasant Valley-ES North

Pleasant Valley swept East Stroudsburg North for a 6-0 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference victory.

The Bears earned two singles victories and a pair of doubles wins, with the other matches decided by forfeit.

Pleasant Valley 6, East Stroudsburg North 0

SINGLES

Avery Cogan (PV) def. Kaylin Acheampong 7-5, 6-2; Amanda Davis (PV) def. Akeira Rivera 6-0, 6-0; Breslin Beck (PV) won by forfeit.

DOUBLES

Averie Acevedo/Alyssa Lijeblad (PV) def. Brooke Doering/Sarah Rivera 6-0, 6-1; Lauren Bush/Emma Kish (PV) def. Jayna Ladouceur/Michele Guarnaccio 6-0, 6-0; Shelby O’Neill/Alayna Boland (PV) won by forfeit.

Records: Pleasant Valley (1-1); East Stroudsburg North (0-3).

CROSS COUNTRY

Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern, Palmerton, Pleasant Valley, Weatherly at Lions Invitational

(at Moravian Academy)

A strong early-season field gathered Friday for the Moravian Academy Lions Invitational, with Elk Lake’s Kendel Jones and Saucon Valley’s Virginia Kraus posting individual victories in the boys and girls varsity races. Several area runners also made their mark, placing in the top 50 overall and among the leaders in their respective classifications.

Boys Varsity

Jones claimed the overall boys title in 15:31, leading a deep pack that featured runners from across the region.

Palmerton’s Connor Hibell turned in the top local performance, finishing fifth overall in 16:31. Hibell also placed first among AA runners.

Lehighton’s Elijah Pagotto earned a 23rd-place finish in 17:36, which was good for fifth in Class AA. Teammate Quinn Heimbach added a 37th-place effort in 18:33, placing 12th in AA.

Northwestern Lehigh’s Noah Griffith took 42nd overall (18:52) to finish 13th in AA, while teammate Brady Furman crossed in 48th (19:02) for 16th in AA.

Girls Varsity

Kraus set the pace in the girls race, crossing the line in 17:27 for the win.

Northwestern Lehigh’s Rosie Nestor led the local contingent with a 12th-place finish in 20:11, which also earned her second place in Class AA.

Palmerton’s Payten Fornaro placed 20th overall in 21:03, finishing fifth in AA.

Northern Lehigh’s Emma Heil ran to a 32nd-place finish (21:34) and was eighth in AA.

Jim Thorpe’s Stacy Bos and Kayleigh Halenar added back-to-back finishes inside the top 50, with Bos 49th (22:56) and Halenar 50th (22:57), placing 12th and 13th in AA, respectively.

BOYS SOCCER

ES South-Palmerton

Carter Huber scored the lone goal for Palmerton, but the Blue Bombers dropped their season opener 5-1 to East Stroudsburg South in non-league action.

Jayden Guarino netted a pair of goals for the Cavaliers, who added three second-half tallies to pull away.

East Stroudsburg South 5, Palmerton 1

Palmerton 0 1 — 1

East Stroudsburg South 2 3 — 5

Goals — P: Huber. ESS: Guarino 2, Holmwood, Petrovskyi, Smith.

Assists — ESS: Petrovskyi.

Shots on goal — ESS 12, P 4.

Goalkeeper saves — P: Breiner 5. ESS: Himelright 3, Iracane 1.

Records: Palmerton (0-1); East Stroudsburg South (1-0).

Pennsbury-

Northwestern

Northwestern came up just short against Pennsbury, falling 4-3 in a non-league matchup.

Logan Mesics scored twice for the Tigers, while Cole Mertz also added a goal.

Northwestern goals: Mesics 2, Mertz.