The green-and-white banners hanging in Donegal’s gym highlight the accomplishments of years past, of section and state titles that the various athletic programs have claimed throughout the years.

For the Indians’ boys soccer team, however, the “1989” is a brutal reminder of just how long it has been since Donegal has truly been on top of the proverbial mountain.

It’s been 38 years since Donegal pulled off back-to-back Lancaster-Lebanon League section titles over the course of the 1987-88 and 1988-89 school years.

Now, after nearly four decades of watching other programs claim section glory, the Indians feel its their time to finally break the streak.

“We look at that banner and it’s been a long time,” Donegal coach Andy Wagner said. “And now, hopefully, it’s our time. We’ve been using that as a motivator. We have the experience and we have the buy-in. Now we just need to translate it to the field once we get started.”

Both the buy-in and experience have come over the last two seasons. In 2024, Donegal won just three games.

Last season, the program reached the District 3 Class 3A playoffs before being ousted by top-seed Conrad Weiser in the opening round.

Junior Drew Horst, a returning Section 3 all-star selection, and a pair of second-team all-section athletes in senior Riley Patrick and junior Mason Musser, have experienced the lows of the program. Now the senior trio wants to set the stage for the highs that they believe the team can accomplish.
And an adopted team motto has given them and the rest of Donegal the mindset that they belong among the upper echelon of Section 3.

“We have a team motto that is ‘Together we play as one,’ ” said Patrick, the team’s returning goalie. “That motto has really brought us together. Everyone has bought in and the team chemistry, especially this year, is really high. Everyone knows what the goal is. We need to focus on the outcome of each game, not the season as a whole.

“We have to take it one minute, one play, one game at a time. That’ll help us out in the long run.”

As head coach of the boys soccer program for nearly two decades, Wagner knows what it takes to reach the goal that has eluded the Indians for those 36 long years.

He sees similarities to the 2021 team, one that reached the District 3 Class 3A semifinals and the state tournament. That, and an injection of 11 freshmen into the program, has Wagner feeling this is the Indians’ best chance at finally adding to that banner.

“Several years ago we had a good leadership group,” Wagner said. “The primary reason for that success was the buy-in. The whole team bought into the philosophy. This year, we have a lot of buy-in.

“It’s no secret that everyone has to be on the same page. We’ve seen that in the offseason so far and, if we continue that, good things will happen.”