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Gettysburg soccer coach Scott Hancock earns his 150th victory


Scott Hancock is a very laid back, calm individual. Rarely raising his voice.

He also is one heck of a soccer coach. And with Gettysburg's victory against Red Lion in the YAIAA boys' soccer tournament quarterfinal Saturday, the eighth-year head coach has now won 150 career matches.

He took the reins of both the boys' and girls' soccer programs in the 2008-09 school year and guided both teams to unprecedented heights.

A Gettysburg College professor, Hancock led the girls' program for four years before the sport switched to the fall and he had to make a choice. He chose to continue coaching the boys, but not before piloting the girls to their first appearance in the District 3 tournament in 2012, his final year.

They won their first-round matchup, and he finished his time with the program, 35-26-5.

Saturday's win pushed his record with the boys to 115-35-1 for an overall record of 150-61-6.

"It's a lot of fun. I love working with high school kids," Hancock said. "I love teaching the game and life lessons at the same time. I'm grateful for the opportunity that I've been given."

While he had success with the girls' program, Hancock has made the most hay on his resume with the boys' side.

Gettysburg's boys' program has a 98-20 record since the start of 2010, including a 69-3 mark in division play. The Warriors captured their division's title in five of the last six years, including a 50-match winning streak from 2010-14. They won the Mid-Penn Colonial Division four straight seasons (2010-13) and YAIAA Division II this year.

In 2014, the Warriors reached the district championship match for the first time in school history, losing to Fleetwood but qualifying for the PIAA tournament for the first time since 2003. They won a state match for the first time in program history before bowing out to eventual state champion Holy Ghost Prep, 1-0, in the second round.

"Coaching with Scott, the way he goes about preparing his team to play is the best that I've seen at any level," Gettysburg assistant coach Andy Riggle said. "He's a great leader, and he loves the guys."

With all of the highs he's seen, Hancock cited 2009 as the best coaching job he's done.

"We were still in the Mid-Penn Keystone at that time and had a brutally tough schedule," he said. "Playing Mechanicsburg, Lower Dauphin, Palmyra and Hershey twice a year was incredibly tough. To go .500 that season, with less talent than we usually have, showed just how hard the kids worked that year."

Asked for a player's prospective on playing for Hancock, senior midfielder Adam Yingling said, "As a player, you love to play for Scott. He knows what you need to do to succeed, and he tries to help you do it. We all respect him so much."

More YAIAA tournament results

GIRLS

Dover doubles down in each half, defeats York Catholic

Northeastern outlasts Susquehannock in marathon win

BOYS

Gettysburg boys' soccer records 12th-straight shutout, moves to 17-0 on season

Lippy leads Susquehannock past Bermudian Springs

Gettysburg soccer coach Scott Hancock earns his 150th victory