FROSTBURG — After winning consecutive Offensive Player of the Year honors the past two years, Mountain Ridge senior Sydney Snyder did one better in her final campaign, capturing Area Player of the Year, as decided by the area’s coaches.
The do-it-all striker and midfielder was second in the area with 27 goals, and she added an area-best 21 assists, accounting for 54% of her team’s scoring to help propel Mountain Ridge to the Class 1A state semifinals and a 16-2 season.
Snyder will receive the award at the 75th Dick Sterne Memorial Dapper Dan Sports Banquet on Sunday, April 28, at 4 p.m. in the Ali Ghan Shrine Club Ball Room.
Emma Hostetler of Northern finished as runner-up for the award, and Hampshire’s Della Knight was third.
“Sydney had a great senior season for us,” her coach and father Todd Snyder said. “She was the leader of our offense. She put her teammates in a great position to score every time we had the ball in the offensive end.
“We tried to run our offense through Sydney as much as possible. She drew so much attention which helped to free others up and allow them to make plays. Teams tried so many different ways to try to slow down our offense, and Syd did an excellent job at reading how teams were trying to defend us.”
The senior, who also won area girls basketball Player of the Year last year and is a contender to repeat this year, is the seventh girl to claim the top soccer honor from Mountain Ridge.
Past Miners to win include Grace Trenum (‘18), Callie Heft (‘17), Tessa Lutton (‘16), Niven Hegeman (‘14-15), Stephanie Fazenbaker (‘09-10) and Danielle McGinnis (‘08).
Three more girls from Beall also ended as POY before the school consolidated with Westmar in 2007 to form Mountain Ridge: Kierstin Stevenson (‘06), Tasha Wilhelm (‘05) and Abby Snyder (‘03).
Sydney Snyder’s crown extends Mountain Ridge’s lead for most Player of the Year honors. The Miners have won nine, followed by Bishop Walsh with six, Allegany with five and Beall with three.
With all that history within the program, Snyder has statistically cemented herself as the school’s greatest offensive player.
She’s the most prolific goal scorer ever at Mountain Ridge with 70, and she also has the most assists, 57.
“Syd controlled possession so well and distributed when needed,” Todd Snyder said. “She had the ability to hold possession until something opened up for her or her teammates. Syd had the ability to beat defenders in the middle or the outside.
“She was always looking to get her teammates involved with our offense.”
Sydney Snyder scored or assisted in all but one game this season, that lone dissenter coming in the only game Mountain Ridge didn’t score in (a 1-0 loss to Allegany on Sept. 28 at Greenway Avenue Stadium).
The senior also scored in all but three games, two of which were the Miners’ only losses. The final defeat came at the hands of Perryville, 4-2, in the state semifinals.
According to her coach, Snyder’s tremendous campaign began as all Player of the Year seasons do: in the offseason.
“The leadership Syd provided was amazing,” Todd Snyder said. “Sydney’s work ethic stood out from the beginning of offseason workouts. She pushed herself, which in turn pushed the girls around her. The girls saw how Syd worked each day and they followed her lead throughout the year.”
Sydney Snyder also grew this season as a vocal leader, which helped Mountain Ridge advance to the Final Four for the second time in Snyder’s three varsity seasons.
Fittingly, her final campaign ended as the Player of the Year.
“She has always been a leader at the top of the offense, but this year she became more vocal in her leadership,” Todd Snyder said. “She pushed her teammates in practice and challenged them to get better every day. This carried over to the games and rubbed off on those around her.
“Replacing Sydney next season will definitely be a challenge. What Syd brought to this team will be hard to duplicate.”