If the performance in the season-opening East-West Classic can serve as a barometer for the rest of the season, then Mt. Lebanon could be the team to beat in WPIAL Class AAA boys' soccer.

The Blue Devils have been participating in the East-West Classic for more than a decade and in the past five years they have gone 1-8-1 playing against some of the top soccer programs from the eastern part of state.

"It is a young and inexperienced team but we are really excited about the progress made in camp," Mt. Lebanon coach Ron Wilcher said.

"They are a really hard-working bunch of players and very enthusiastic about the game. It's been a long time since we won two games [at the East-West Classic]. It is very difficult to go out there and win games, you are usually happy just to win one game."

This year, despite graduating 17 seniors from last year, Mt. Lebanon traveled more than four hours to Reading, Pa., and came back with two wins shutting out both Exeter Township and West Lawn Wilson.

The two returning starters are midfielders David Langton and Nate Sharbaugh, who is one of the top scoring threats in the WPIAL. Sharbaugh scored both goals in the 2-0 win over Wilson.

"Obviously, you like to have experience everywhere," Wilcher said, "but if you can get some guys back in the midfield who can control the ball, it's big.

"Both of those guys are excellent. They have great technical ability and the new guys, most of them are playing in the classic leagues and they are getting game experience outside of high school, so they catch on pretty quickly."

Kevin Davis has joined Sharbaugh and Langton in the midfield.

Early in the season Mt. Lebanon will be without its only returning defender, Tyler Hanus, who is out with a broken foot for another month. They will also have to replace the incumbent goalkeeper, Jake Batisky, who is out due to surgery. Junior Nate Doctor will fill in at goalie until Batisky can return and he had the two shutouts in the East-West Classic.

Dante Varotsis, Brian Richardson, Jason Dempsey and Evan Schardt will make up the backline. Nick Relich, a transfer from Trinity, is also seeing time on defense.

The forwards will be Zach Batteer and Connor Wohlfarth. Batteer scored the lone goal in the 1-0 win over Exeter Township. Tyler Linkowski and Brian Luchini will come off the bench and also play forward. Brian Church is projected to be a starter but he is currently out with an injury.

Last season Mt. Lebanon went 10-2 in Section 4-AAA to finish in second place behind Bethel Park but they were eliminated in the first round by Pine-Richland 3-0 that continued a trend of playoff struggles for a once dominant Mt. Lebanon program. After winning four WPIAL titles in the span of nine years, the Blue Devils have failed to claim the championship since 2002. They have only advanced beyond the first round of the WPIAL playoffs one time in the past four years.

"Without a doubt for a long time we never went longer than a four-year stretch without winning the WPIAL title," Wilcher said.

"The guys realize the tradition and history and the expectations. There is a drive to do well here and I think we can if we stay healthy and just enjoy the season. There is such a great tradition among the soccer community. If you slide it is tough to recover and we are definitely on a little bit of a slide."