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Lady Panthers Canter Past Catasauqua Rough Riders (Brought to You by Andrew & Sonya Hughes)

Following a 2-0 win at Northern Lehigh Thursday, the Saucon Valley girls soccer team (3-0-0 Colonial League, 3-1-0 overall) harnessed their third consecutive conference victory with a 1-0 win over Catty (1-1-0 Colonial League, 2-1-0 overall) on Saturday.

Est. Read Time: 4 mins

Photo by Chris Christian

Following a 2-0 win at Northern Lehigh Thursday, the Saucon Valley girls soccer team (3-0-0 Colonial League, 3-1-0 overall) harnessed their third consecutive conference victory with a 1-0 win over Catty (1-1-0 Colonial League, 2-1-0 overall) on Saturday.

Besting the Rough Riders in both possession and pace, the Panthers struck midway through the the first half as center midfielder junior Sophia Riehl released a galloping grounder into the bottom right corner off a ball from senior striker Lauren Giles.

“We have come to realize that by working quick combinations in the midfield, more opportunities are created. Today we were able to capitalize on the opportunities,” commented Riehl on the play.

The second half brought increased pressure from Catty but the Panther defense responded in kind. With 6:03 on the clock, a Catasauqua corner kick set up a threatening shot that was denied by junior keeper Jackie Barbera.

Then, with just 3:32 left to play, a Panther penalty resulted in a direct kick that was adroitly cleared by senior sweeper Lexi Guerrieri, and the Panthers were able to hold Catty scoreless.

“Without the support and hard work from the girls the shutouts wouldn’t be possible. I am gaining confidence with each game and hope to continue to improve as the season goes on,” said Barbera of her third successive career shutout. Of Saturday’s result, Coach Stevie Ochse commented that “I am happy we got the win despite not having our entire lineup healthy and able to play. Hopefully we will have time to rest and recuperate and be ready to rise to the challenge next week.”

Junior Varsity also trotted over the Rough Riders with a pair of goals scored by Zoie Coronado assisted by Kaleigh Hess-Davila and Olivia Jackson for a score of 2-0.

The Lady Panthers host Quakertown in a non-conference match-up on Monday, Sept. 9, at 4 p.m.

All photos by Chris Christian. To see more, please scroll down or visit his website, where you can purchase these and other Saucon sports photos.

About This Series: Andrew & Sonya Hughes of Hellertown are sponsoring another season of girls soccer coverage on Saucon Source to help recognize the achievements of our female high school athletes and in tribute to their own daughters, who were both stand-out 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,” says Andrew. “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 sincerely thanks Andrew and Sonya Hughes for their thoughtful and generous support of our local sports coverage.

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About the author

Josh Popichak

Josh Popichak is the owner, publisher and editor of Saucon Source. A Lehigh Valley native, he's covered local news since 2005 and previously worked for Berks-Mont News and AOL/Patch. Contact him at josh@sauconsource.com.

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