In the 2023 season, senior Matt Johnson ended an impressive high school career and rewrote the record books by surpassing the old mark of 81 career goals when he finished with 101 goals in four varsity seasons.

With the record still relatively fresh on their minds, seniors Jacob van Lierop and Jack Mauro, along with junior Logan Mesics were talking about Johnson’s mark and wondering if any of them had a shot at breaking it.

Van Lierop had 31 career goals in three seasons, Mauro had 38 and Mesics had 18 goals in two varsity seasons, and they decided it could be done but would be tough.

Mauro (16 goals, 30 assists) and Mesics (20 goals, 17 assists) have both put together solid seasons and played huge roles in the Tigers’ 27-0-0 record and their ability to reach the PIAA finals on Saturday against Cathedral Prep. Mesics will enter his senior season next fall with 38 career goals, and would need a big senior season to get to the top of the record book.

But van Lierop actually made it happen Tuesday night in the PIAA semifinals against Notre Dame – Green Pond when he scored three goals to put himself at 102 for his career. His 71 goals this season is also a new record for goals in a single season.

“Obviously, it‘s come to fruition,” said van Lierop after Tuesday night’s win. “It’s a great feeling, but it was a pipe dream. You never really thought it was going to happen, but then you start moving through the season and like maybe (it’s possible).”

The way van Lierop’s season began, one might have thought he was determined to get the record from the season opening game against Pennsbury when he scored three goals in a 4-0 win.

In three August games, van Lierop scored 10 goals, and then registered 12 more goals in a three-game span when he scored four each against Jim Thorpe, Palisades, and Notre Dame – Green Pond.

The senior scored multiple goals in the first eight games of the season and compiled a total of 36 goals in the month of September, including a career-high five goals against Salisbury.

Playing limited minutes in a non-league season finale against Kutztown, van Lierop didn’t score a goal, but did pick up an assist to keep his mark of having a goal or an assist in every varsity game he has played in alive and well.

Next up came seven goals and four assists, as the Tigers won the Colonial League championship, and four goals and two assists as the Tigers became District 11 2A champions.

In states, van Lierop opened by resetting his career-high for goals in a game when he scored six against Midd-West, and as the Tigers head to Saturday’s finals, van Lierop has 10 goals in the PIAA tournament to get him to his 71- goal mark for the season, and 102 for his career.

Johnson graduated and headed for East Stroudsburg University, and his exit led to a change in roles for van Lierop, which helped facilitate his huge senior season.

“We were kind of utilizing him in different roles in his previous two seasons. Even from freshman year on, he was more of a possession guy, facilitator of the offense. Now, he‘s leading the front line of the attack,” said Tigers’ coach Nate Hunsicker. “He told me the beginning of the season, he was hunting Matt‘s record, and I just kind of gave him a wry smile and I was like, ’Good luck buddy, you‘ve got to score a hell of a lot of goals to make that happen.’ And I enjoyed every single one.”

Van Lierop admits he put in some extra work during the offseason in hopes of putting up big numbers and helping fill the hole left by Johnson’s departure, but much of the work has been an ongoing process of simply understanding the game and his role in it more than he did in previous seasons.

“I think mentally and tactically I improved a lot more than technically. I think I adapted and understood the situations I was being put in more and where I could get the ball to score,” said van Lierop. “I also think just playing up top more and getting in those reps and getting the ball from all these guys, being able to work with them and understanding how they’re going to play. Just putting that altogether helped.”

His mark of having a goal or an assist in every varsity game he has played is still intact and has now reached 68 straight games. Van Lierop will look to stretch that to 69 straight and contribute to one final goal that both he and the team have had since their first practice of the season; a state championship.

“That’s the last thing that we want to accomplish,” said van Lierop of his Northwestern Lehigh teammates. “We want that second state championship. It was amazing when we did it a couple years ago and we all want to feel that again.”