It’s time for some wins . . .

In recent years, the Beaver Area Boys soccer team has struggled to find victory in their tough section. Not many wins have entered the record books, but the boys plan to turn those losing scores into winning scores this year.

Under senior captains Krystof Purtell and Jakub Dingo, the team is looking to turn around those past numbers.

“Going into the season we know we have talented players, but aren’t quite sure if we will be able to turn that into wins,” shared Dingo about his initial thoughts on the upcoming season.

But that doesn’t mean the boys won’t or can’t win; it means that they’re taking this season seriously.

The boys started their season with two scrimmages: one against Taylor Allderdice High School August 21 where the boys tied 1-1 and one August 25 against North Catholic High School that ended up being canceled due to a rise in COVID cases.

A couple days later, the Bobcats were scheduled to play Freedom Area High School in a non-section game, but again due to rising COVID cases at the high school, Freedom Area decided to cancel the game.

September 7 the Bobcats finally returned to the pitch against Montour High School in their first section game. Montour is always a tough matchup for the boys, but both the JV and varsity boys held their own until the Spartans took the lead in both games. JV lost 1-0 and varsity fell 2-0 to the Spartans.

In desperate need of a win, the boys continued to work hard, and September 9 the hard work paid off when the Bobcats took on Chartiers Valley High School and secured the 3-2 win after a nail-biting overtime where senior Connor Masters scored the game winning goal.

Senior Garrett Pander and junior Caden Biela each netted a goal in the second half to tie the game 2-2 and send the teams into overtime before Masters brought the game home for the Bobcats. The JV team unfortunately fell to Chartiers Valley 4-0.

“It felt so good to score the game-winning goal because all our overtimes have been losses over the past couple of seasons. This is the first time [in recent years] we’ve won in overtime, and being able to be on the winning side is definitely a special feeling,” shared Masters.

In another tough match-up, the JV boys lost 3-0 and the varsity boys fell 4-0 to West Allegheny High School September 13. Junior goalkeeper Robert Cestra battled for 18 saves for the Bobcats.

September 15 the boys took on Moon High School in yet another tough matchup. The Bobcats worked hard, held their own, and never gave up the whole game.

Unfortunately, the scoreboard did not reflect the effort put in by the team. Both the JV and varsity fell to the Tigers 3-0 and 2-0 respectively.

Upcoming this week, the boys will kick off at home tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. against South Fayette High School and away Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Blackhawk High School. Current record: 1-3

A special congratulations to Connor Masters for being voted the Times’ Boys Athlete of the Week!

“Now that we’re a few games in, we’re still optimistic about our playoff chances,” stated Dingo.