Lohrman, young Owls looking to take the next step
By JP BUTLER
Special to the Olean Star
PORT ALLEGANY, PA — Dan Schott is no stranger to the Port Allegany soccer program.
Schott has been a fixture along the sidelines for the last 15 years, following his own children through the youth (U8, 10 and 12) ranks before becoming the junior high assistant, then later head coach. He then spent a year as a “floating” coach during his daughter’s senior season. And for the last two campaigns, he served as an assistant to longtime boys varsity coach Aaron Clark after the position became available when then-top aide Matt Lawton shifted over to the girls’ varsity job.
“So, yeah, I’ve just worked my way up the ladder for a long time now,” he said with a chuckle.
And now, he’s reached essentially the top rung.
SCHOTT HAS taken the boys varsity reins from Clark, who founded the program in 2006 and stepped down after 19 mostly successful seasons and a career record of 213-131-10. Interestingly, that makes Schott just the second coach in program history.
Schott was a part of last year’s strong Gators squad, which went 10-0 en route to a UAVSL Small School North title and finished 16-3 overall. He helped the 2023 Gators to a 12-8 mark and a spot in the District 9 Class A semifinals. He was around the team when it was capturing district titles and advancing to the PIAA state playoffs.
Schott’s goal, of course, is to maintain the same lofty standard to which Port Allegany boys soccer is accustomed.
In Year 1, however, he understands: That’s going to be a stiff challenge.
At least in the early going.

PORT UNITED, the moniker it adopted after merging with Smethport in 2018, “lost a ton,” from last year’s group — six starters in total, including goalkeeper Aidan Clark (“statistically one of the top goalkeepers in program history”), league MVP Austin Hamilton and Justin Dunn (“a top-five player in program history, statistically speaking.”)
“So, yeah, there’s some significant holes there that we have to fill,” Schott acknowledged.
The good news for the Gators: The cupboard isn’t bare.
Schott welcomes back his son, senior striker Alex Schott, who topped Port United and tied for the District 9 lead with 28 goals last fall. The younger Schott, who has already netted three goals through Port’s first five games, now stands just 10 markers short of 50 for his career. The Gators also return Jarrod Funk, who made Pennsylvania’s Gold roster for this summer’s Corporate Cup and who splits time between football and soccer, and Silver roster members Owen Kisler (“a solid midfielder and multi-year starter”) and Micah Emerick (“our center back and anchor of our defense last year), both seniors.
The tougher news: Port United is a bit-shorthanded in these early stages, and experiencing some growing pains as a result.
FUNK PULLED his hamstring “and hasn’t played very much for us (yet),” Schott noted. He’s one of a handful of Gators who suffered an injury before the calendar had even reached September. And then there’s this more interesting absence: Tre Kiser, another senior starter, is currently out of the lineup while he completes his basic training for the U.S. Army. He’s expected, however, to rejoin the team in the next few weeks.
In the meantime, however, the Gators have struggled.
Port Allegany has opened the season 0-5, being outscored 20-3 in four of those contests and dropping a double overtime heartbreaker to Galeton in the other. The Gators’ hope is that its veterans return soon to “stop some of the hemorrhaging that we’ve had early in the season.” That experience figures to be especially crucial for a team that features seven seniors, but eight “brand new” players on a 19-man roster.
“The fact we’ve had two, three, four guys out for the first four games really has made it difficult,” said Schott, who’s being assisted this season by former player Caden Roys. “We’ve had to push a lot of those very new players into new positions that we never would have had them in.
“They’re coming along; we’re happy with the progress they’ve made. They’ve fought every game (Port was tied 1-1 with Ridgway at halftime before allowing seven second-half goals). It’s just been those little mistakes. (And) we’re still waiting for some luck to go our way, but I just feel like it hasn’t happened yet.”
On the good that might ultimately come from the return of his senior leaders combined with the experience his young players are gaining now, Schott added: “That’s definitely the storyline that we’re hoping for; we’ll see how that plays out. I think we’ve got about another (few days) before those guys get through it. But right now, we’re 0-5; we might be 0-6 by the time they get back in the fold.”
SCHOTT KNOWS that it might take him until well into September to collect his first varsity coaching victory. And that’s okay.
He’s an eternal optimist, he said.

His objective in Year 1, under these kinds of trying circumstances: For Port to rally back into contention for a league title and claw its way into the postseason.
“I don’t think we’re out of it by any stretch of the imagination,” he said. “If we can pull together, get a win or two (next) week, get some pieces back … I don’t think defending the league title is totally out of the realm with the guys we have. But our first goal is to get the nine wins we need to at least get into the playoffs. If we can at least weather the storm and get into the tournament, then who knows, (as an 8 or 9 seed), we could come in and make some noise.
He added: “That’s kind of the storyline that I think would be the most realistic, is that we have some struggles, maybe we won’t meet some in-season goals that we want, but at least we’d eek into the postseason and have the opportunity there to see how we can pull it off in the playoffs.”
BRADFORD HIGH
In 2023, longtime area coach Peter Butler took over at Bradford High for Wes Lohrman, who stepped down after 18 fruitful seasons which produced nine District 9 championships and over 200 victories.
In Year 1 under Butler, an England native who once played professionally, moved to the United States in 1975 and began becoming involved in youth soccer in the Bradford area in 1980, the Owls experienced very little drop off. Following a 9-9 regular season, Bradford topped DuBois 2-1 to claim the program’s third-straight District 9 Class AAA title, beat Hollidaysburg (2-1) in the PIAA subregional and advanced to the PIAA state playoffs, where it bowed to Hampton, 6-0, in the first round.
On the heels of that three-peat, however, the Owls have encountered a bit of adversity.
Bradford lost two stars from that 2023 squad: Co-Big 30 Player Mitchell Strauss and Andy Mangold, who combined for 49 goals that season. The following year, Butler’s second at the helm, Bradford struggled to a 3-14-1 finish, which included a pair of victories over Oil City and one over Franklin.
From that team, Bradford graduated another host of experienced seniors. And those difficulties followed it into this season: The Owls opened the 2025 campaign with an 11-1 loss to General McLane and followed it with a 5-1 setback to Randolph in the opening round of Allegany-Limestone’s Gator Cup on Aug. 28.
But since that night, Butler’s very youthful team has displayed legitimate signs of growth.
And it’s demonstrated that perhaps some of the lumps it’s taken over the last few years can soon yield a return to its winning ways.
Bradford followed its loss to Randolph with a 5-3 triumph over Chautauqua Lake in the Gator Cup consolation game. And on Tuesday, it claimed its home-opener in decisive fashion, jumping out to a 4-1 lead over Oil City before securing a 6-2 win.
Though the Owls lost two of their top scorers in Gabe Tate and Aidan Willard, it welcomed back No. 1 scorer Landon Lohrman (8 goals last fall), the son of Wes Lohrman, who stepped down after becoming the assistant principal at Bradford’s elementary school in 2023. And the younger Lohrman has been the driving force behind the Owls’ consecutive victories. Lohrman recorded a hat trick in both wins, giving him six goals through the first four games of the year. He also assisted on Lou Sokoly’s marker in the Owls’ loss to Randolph.

He’s not the only one, though, who’s seemingly begun to turn a corner.
Following the Oil City triumph, Butler highlighted the strong play of Owen Troisi and Cole Blatchley, a junior and senior respectively. In that one, the Owls also received goals from Joe Bukowski, Mikah Geist and Ewen Bell. Those three and Cooper McGee, who tallied the lone marker against General McLane, are all youngsters.
Bradford is already one win away from matching last year’s total in early September.
If Lohrman can continue on his current standout trajectory and goalkeeper Aiden Abbott and the Owls’ young core can continue making strides, Bradford figures to have a chance at being much more competitive in the unforgiving District 10 league this season.
The Owls are scheduled to return to action on Thursday night against Franklin, an opponent it beat 3-0 and tied 1-1 last year.