lehigh valley rivals team up on pitch

When sports are involved, it’s not often that Muhlenberg, Moravian and DeSales are on the same side, but representatives of all three schools are on the new Muhlenberg men’s soccer coaching staff.

Sean Topping, in his eighth season as head coach at his alma mater, has added two new assistants and brought back one who helped the Mules to some of their best seasons.

Ryan Hess (left) is one of the newcomers. For the past two summers, he has captained the local minor league team, the Pennsylvania Stoners. In that time he has led the team to a 17-5-1 record and the 2008 National Premier Soccer League national championship. Hess graduated from rival Moravian in 2008, where he was a three-year letterwinner, two-year team captain and two-time team MVP. As a senior he earned Landmark All-Conference honors.

Rusty Riedmiller (right) is the second newcomer on the Muhlenberg staff and is in his first season as the team’s goalkepeer coach. Riedmiller comes to Muhlenberg with extensive experience as a goalkeeper. He has been a goalkeeper for over 15 years and has been a member of the Eastern Pennsylvania ODP, Lehigh Valley Select, Stroudsburg United and DeSales University soccer teams. Riedmiller started three years at DeSales from 2005-07, helping guide the team to Freedom Conference championships all three seasons. He was a team co-captain as a senior and left the school as its all-time leader in shutouts, saves, save percentage, goals-against average and consecutive scoreless minutes.

Returning to the staff for his second stint is Jeff Person (left), who served on the coaching staff from 1990 to 1999. During his first tenure at Muhlenberg, the Mules were an astonishing 137-43-17 (.739) and won Centennial Conference championships in 1994, 1995, and 1997. The program made its only Final Four appearance in ’95, finishing the season ranked third in the nation. Prior to his time at Muhlenberg, Person coached at Salisbury High School in Allentown for 17 years, winning five Colonial League championships and three consecutive Division IX titles (1985-87). He taught mathematics at Salisbury for 28 years before retiring in June 1999.