ALLENTOWN, Pa. - This summer junior Tommy Ehrlich (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty), of the Lock Haven University men’s soccer team played for the Pennsylvania Stoners.

The Stoners are the Lehigh Valley’s Minor League Soccer Team and this season they joined the National Premier Soccer League, playing in the Northeast Division.

The only people that may be upset about the Stoners playing in the NPSL might be their opponents, as the Pa. Stoners recently won the NPSL National Championships thanks in large to Ehrlich.

On Sunday, Aug. 3 the Stoners shutout the St. Paul Twin Stars 3-0, with Ehrlich recording the hat trick. For his efforts he was named MVP of the championship match.

He was also recently named MVP of the league after leading his team to an 11-1-1 record. He also scored 11 goals in 13 games on the season and was once named National Player of the Week.

The Stoners are near and dear to Ehrlich’s heart and with his sensational performance on Sunday he made is father, Bobby Ehrlich and grandfather Willie Ehrlich very proud.

Willie Ehrlich founded the Stoners back in 1979

The team that based out of Allentown helped pioneer the introduction of soccer to much of the eastern and central Pennsylvania region. Willie was the coach and president of the Stoners winning American Soccer League coach of the year twice and earning the American Soccer league championship during the 1979-1980 season.

Along with being head coach and founder of the Stoners Willie was also the American League president. He also played professionally in France and Hungary, and is a proud member of the American Soccer hall of fame.

One of Willie Ehrlich’s top players on the Stoners was his son, Bobby Ehrlich. Bobby is of course the father of Tommy. The former Penn State soccer star, Bobby, played central mid-field for the Stoners until 1981 when he had to retire do to various knee injuries.

The team was disbanded in 1983 until Bobby Ehrlich helped bring back the club in 2007. Bobby is one of the owners and general manager of the stoners. They joined the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) playing in the North division of the Eastern conference; teams from Boston, Buffalo, Morristown, and Portland round up their division.

Now that the Stoners had returned it was time for Tommy Ehrlich to put his name into Stoners history as his grandfather and father already have.

Tommy helped keep his family tradition alive by wearing the number his father had worn as a Stoner. “I, like my father, have decided to wear number 14. It only feels right to me,

I felt it needed to be kept in the family for some reason” said Tommy on why he wears his father’s old number.

After the big win on Sunday Tommy has a few weeks off before returning to Lock Haven for the pre-season. Hopefully his success with the Stoners will carry on to the fall for the Bald Eagles.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Stoners click on the link listed below.