LIONS LEAD THE LEHIGH VALLEY IN FALL SPORTS PREVIEWS

As the fall 2023 athletics season kicks into gear, the Lions are the teams to beat. Catch up on The Morning Call's previews on what's sure to be an exciting season ahead.

The Lions had a good regular season in 2022 but suffered one-goal losses in each of the Colonial League and District 11 Class A tournaments. A senior-laden team, especially in the midfield, may help alter Moravian’s fortunes. Megan Dadio, a Franklin and Marshall commit, is a clutch scorer and one of the better mids in the Lehigh Valley. Rylin Becker, another midfielder, is among several experienced starters.

Coach Geri Higgins’ Lions are led by sophomores Collin Schreiber, who was third in last year’s district 2A event, and Mara Dubacher, a league runner-up and district champion who tied for 21st in her first PIAA tournament. Ford Koch and Emma Xu are others in the lineup.

"So, what do the Lions do for an encore? They were state champions last season and went to the semifinals the year before, so the next step is to repeat. It will have to be done without some of the big pieces from 2022, including goalkeeper Gabe Borsuk, midfielder Rafi Sanjuan, and defensemen A.J. Kara and Trey Sheeler. Senior midfielder George Husack and junior Orhan Tufan are going to take over the leadership of the team and look to push the Lions back to states."

"A year ago, The Morning Call’s girls cross country preview focused on the potential and promise of Moravian Academy freshman Virginia Kraus.

Kraus certainly lived up to that hype.

The young Lion pulled off the rare championship trifecta – Colonial League, District 11 and PIAA – to put herself on the fast track to becoming one of the most accomplished cross country runners in Lehigh Valley history. Kraus capped her amazing ninth-grade season with a Class 1A state title in Hershey.

She’ll try to repeat those feats this fall."

The Lions won their fourth straight league title last year and won every flight in the Colonial tournament. Expect more dominance this season.

“Our goals are to win the Colonial League regular season and tournament, win District 11 Class 2A and advance to Hershey in states,” coach Rick Brown said.

He has a good chance to meet those with five returning starters and two quality freshmen getting their first action.

The returnees are headed by senior and District 11 2A singles champ Francesca Bartolacci, who finished fourth in the state as a freshman in 2020 and was a district doubles in 2021.

Sophomore Laura Li was a league champ at No. 3 singles last year and a quarterfinalist in districts. Kanchan Gupta and Sunny Chen, both seniors, were league champs at No. 1 doubles last year.

Freshman Penelope Bloomfield will move into the No. 3 singles position this year and sophomore Chloe Dahl, senior India Debbage and freshman Anika Mehta will see doubles action.

The Colonial League is a season-long battle and Moravian Academy is always right in the mix. The Lions were class A quarterfinalists at states after taking the gold medal at districts. The league has become so strong that Moravian Academy was not able to make it out of the wild card round in league playoffs last season. A young team finished 14-6-1 and now has the postseason experience to go further in ’23 with forward Angel Deluhery, midfielder Izzy Tran, defenseman Elle Price and goalkeeper Addie Etter all returning.

We invite you to cheer on our teams on their road to the District XI and Colonial League championships.