The girls soccer team had a rough start to their season this year.

The Lady Cats started the season with four nonsection games which is unusual.

First, with a scrimmage against Mohawk August 21 at Mohawk’s field, the girls had an unexpected 1-1 tie.

Next up they played a nonsection game against Ambridge away August 28 and fell 7-0 due to multiple injuries on the team meaning several starters were unable to play.

“At one point in the game we had seven of our 11 starters sitting on the bench,” said head coach Paige Petroval.

September 1 they took on Central Valley away, another nonsection match. The girls came out strong, but in the end lost 5-0.

There next nonsection game was against Montour September 5. The girls were unfortunately expecting a huge loss due to the end results of prior years against the Spartans, but to their surprise managed a respectable 2-0 defeat.

Starting the regular season September 8 the girls played Avonworth at Avonworth’s home turf. As their biggest section rival, the girls came out hungry for the win. With a good fight the Beaver Area girls came out victorious with a 1-0 win.

“The Avonworth game was a pretty even matchup, but it came down to the fact that our chemistry as a team was really strong during that match. After scoring early on we were able to shut down all of Avonworth’s shots through both halves. It was great to start out our section matches with a win,” commented senior defender Carley Brimmeier.

September 10 the girls had their first home game against Keystone Oaks and won 5-2.

Next North Catholic visited our home turf September 12 to beat the Lady Cats 3-0.

The following week the girls redeemed themselves against Steel Valley at home September 17. Despite trudging through the swamp of a field due to hurricane Florence the girls were able to win 6-2.

“I was proud of the the way we played against Steel Valley because we were able to work through the difficult weather conditions and come out with a solid win,” said senior goalie Bethany Bonnar.

Next the girls traveled to Quaker Valley September 19. It was a good match-up between the teams with a 2-2 tie with five minutes left on the clock. Sadly the Quaker Valley girls ended up scoring off of an own goal in the last two minutes to end the game 3-2.

“These were hard fought games where we came together as a team, not individuals, and hopefully we can see nearly these same results in the upcoming games,” stated senior midfielder Lizzie Engle.

September 22 the lady cats took on Ambridge at home and due to goalie Bethany Bonnar getting kicked in the head and having to sit out they lost 6-1.

Next up the girls took on Hopewell September 24 and again lost 2-0.

October 1 they played Avonworth to start up the second half of the season hoping to defeat them again. With a tie of 1-1 at the end of the game they went into a 10 minute overtime with the goal scored to win. Due to an unfortunate foul about 30 yards out from the goal Avonworth scored the winning goal two minutes into overtime to win the game.

“We played hard and kept the game even the whole time. We let a goal slip in overtime but we were the better team by far,” stated senior defender Maria Miocic.

October 3 the girls travelled to Dormont Stadium to take on Keystone Oaks. Needing a win the girls were anxious to score and ended up with a 5-1 win over the Eagles.

Next the girls traveled to Steel Valley in hopes of another win. At the end of the game they were tied 2-2. They went into double over time, but no one scored ending with a score of 2-2.

October 10 was senior night for the girls. With 9 seniors graduating in 2019 it was an emotional night for the team. Despite emotions, the girls came out hard and hungry for a win. With 30 seconds left in the game the Quaker Valley Quakers scored tying the game 2-2. With a long ball up the field from the kickoff senior midfielder Mikayla Obrist scored with 15 seconds left to win the game for the cats.

“I’m so proud of our team for pulling off a win against our rival. They are a very good team and always fun to play. It’s a game I will always remember,” said Obrist.

Following senior night the girls traveled to Hopewell October 15. With Hopewell being undefeated the girls were hungry for the win but ended getting defeated 1-0.

October 16 the girls played North Catholic for their last section game. Going into this game the girls knew they had to own to make it to playoffs. The girls dominated the entire game but sadly lost to a goal score in the last two minutes.

“This past season has been a part of something that feels more like a family than a team,” concluded Brimmeier