When Landon Mohney was 7, he was a goalkeeper for his youth soccer team.

But Mohney refused to be limited to just stopping shots.

During one match, he dribbled through the entire defense and scored a goal of his own. It was an epiphany for the young Mohney, who grew up in a soccer family with his father, Troy, a standout during his playing days at Butler High School and his older brother, Tate, already a star in the youth ranks.

Landon Mohney knew then that soccer was his sport, too.

“I don't remember much from then, but that's when I was like, 'OK. I'm kind of good at this. I can make something out of this,'” Landon said.

He was right.

Now entering his junior year this fall for the Golden Tornado boys soccer team, Mohney has his sights set on school records and a WPIAL title.

Mohney is already on the national map.

The last two years, he made the Olympic Development Program's East Region team. This year, he took that a step farther, making the Olympic Development Program National Team.

He's one of the top 18 16-year-old players in the country.

“This is the first time they've picked a national team,” said Troy Mohney, who is also Landon's soccer coach at Butler. “He was supposed to go to Barcelona in April, but didn't get the chance (because of the coronavirus pandemic).”

With that opportunity dashed, Landon Mohney still found other ways to stay sharp on the soccer pitch.

He was able to play on a turf field behind Family Sports Center where his father is the general manager, during the shutdown and was also able to hit the weight room hard.

“I wanted to work on my speed and my touch on the ball and movement off the ball,” Landon Mohney said.

But getting stronger was his primary goal.

Playing in the rough-and-tumble WPIAL Section 1-4A can be physically demanding. It's an aggressive brand of soccer and Mohney is trying to make sure he can withstand the likely toll his body will take.

He had a little practice with that going up against Tate most of his life.

Tate was a 6-foot, 200-pound physical force for Butler when he played. Now entering his sophomore year at Elizabethtown, Tate never took it easy on his younger brother.

“He pushes me,” Landon said of Tate. “It's been nice. I was a freshman playing on varsity and that doesn't happen a whole lot. When he would pick on me at home, it made me grow up a little bit and defend myself a little more. When we got on the field, he'd get on me and made me work harder.”

Troy Mohney said he can already see the difference in Landon's strength.

“The areas he's most improved is he's been lifting for a year or so and he's gotten a lot stronger physically than he was a year ago,” Coach Mohney said.

That should serve him well on the pitch this season for Butler when he figures to garner the same attention he did last year as a sophomore.

“(Last year) even I got double- and triple-teamed sometimes,” Landon said. “It's fun when I hear team yell, 'Double team him. Force him to his left.' I'm ambidextrous and I can shoot with both feet, so when they say that I'm like, 'OK.'”

Landon hopes to put both of his feet into chasing some special records.

Troy Mohney still holds the Butler school record for goals in the season (37) and a career (63).

Landon Mohney wants to break both by the time he is through.

He has 18 goals in his career, but will take on a bigger role in the offense this fall at attacking-midfield after moving around from defense to striker throughout the first two years of his career.

“He's been telling me that since he was 6,” Troy said, chuckling. “I keep telling him, 'Keep working.' I'd love nothing more than for him to get it.”

Landon takes a lot of pride in his ability to do anything that is required of him on the pitch.

“When I was younger, my dad said a good soccer player can play any position they want,” Landon said. “I just took that, put it in my head and followed it.”