In spite of a last minute field change, the Saucon Valley girls soccer team persevered Wednesday to win another game and improve their Colonial League record to 10-0. The win also guarantees them a spot in the playoffs.
In a game that was played in a virtual phone booth, the Panther girls soccer team was lucky Wednesday to get away with their Colonial League unbeaten record still in tact. With a week remaining in the Colonial League regular season, Pen Argyl was forced to relocate rather than reschedule. The Green Knights’ home field was considered an unplayable surface due to recent rains and the venue was switched to Wind Gap Park. The soccer pitch at Wind Gap is much, much smaller than a typical high school surface.
Saucon Valley was able to dominate possession and play against the bigger Green Knights, but with little room to spread out and capitalize on their speed and skill, the Panthers were unable to get on the scoreboard. Both teams registered numerous shots on the shortened field, but with the boxes packed the first half ended at 0-0.
The second half was characterized by similarly congested and contested play, but there were a couple major highlights. The first came with about 35 minutes remaining.
Panther goalkeeper Zoe Zaharakis was forced to come off her line to challenge a Green Knight attacker. Zaharakis made a diving save that was deflected to another Pen Argyl forward who shot while the Panther goalkeeper was still grounded. Alertly, Lexi Guerrieri had the awareness to step into goal and was able to save the Green Knight shot with her foot. About 10 minutes later a major scrum unfolded in front of the Pen Argyl keeper. The entire Panther offense crashed into the box and frantically dug for a shot. The Panthers’ Sophie Riehl was ultimately awarded with what became the lone, game-winning goal.
Saucon senior goalkeeper Zoe Zaharakis
Saucon Valley escaped the phone booth with a 1-0 victory.
“Pen Argyl is an up-and-coming team that played with a lot of passion making it difficult for us to get quality chances on goal,” Coach Stevie Ochse noted. “In past years we may have folded in such a game, but this year we have consistently found a way to win.”
“We stayed positive and remained patient which helped us get the second half goal,” she added. “An added bonus is that the win guarantees we will make the Colonial League playoffs.”
The Panthers improved their record to 10-0 in the Colonial League with the win, while Pen Argyl fell to 2-5-1 with the loss.
Up Next: The Panthers travel to Notre Dame-Green Pond on Friday, Oct. 5 for a 4 p.m. showdown with the Crusaders (3-5).
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About This Series: Andrew & Sonya Hughes of Hellertown are sponsoring girls soccer coverage on Saucon Source to help recognize the achievements of female high school athletes here in Saucon Valley, and in tribute to their own daughters, who were both stand-out student athletes at their high school, where they played softball, soccer, basketball and field hockey. Between the two of them they earned 14 varsity letters in high school. “Female athletics was a big part of our family life for many years, but that journey ended at the high school level six years ago,” Andrew Hughes says. “Through those amazing experiences we also noticed that females don’t seem to have the same level of exposure and support as their male counterparts. So we are very sensitive to situations where we perceive an imbalance of exposure of female student athlete participation in competitive high school sports. We also like to encourage greater involvement of young people in athletics. We would like to help the girls gain more exposure at your news source by adopting some girls high school teams.” Saucon Source thanks Andrew & Sonya Hughes for their thoughtful and generous support of our local sports coverage.
