In one of the most physical games of the season, the Saucon Valley girls soccer team (6-2 Colonial League) clawed their way to a 1-0 victory over the Moravian Academy Lions (6-3 Colonial League) Tuesday.

Entering the contest neck-and-neck in league standings, both teams waged a balanced battle dominated by formidable defense and controlled midfield play. With 2:52 left in the first half, a Moravian corner kick zapped a zinger toward the goal, which was headed out by center midfielder senior Caroline Gilbert. The game’s first half was scoreless.

Then with 16:23 left in the game, the Panthers’ prowess paid off. Charging down the right lane with signature speed, junior winger Maria Donahue placed perfectly a ball in the center and junior striker Jorryn Kyra skillfully slammed it in. The Lions ferociously attempted to compensate, but Saucon Valley’s fierce defense pitched another shutout, and the final score was 1-0.

“I feel like just being in the right spot at the right time was what led to the goal. An essential part of every game is that we never give up and continue to cheer each other on, which is what we did tonight,” said Kyra of scoring the lone goal of the game.

“It was our third 1-0 win in Colonial League play and probably not the last. It shows you how competitive our league is and how difficult it will be to meet our goal of qualifying for the Colonial League playoffs. I hope the win increases our confidence before we play against Salisbury, which will be another tough game,” commented Coach Stevie Ochse.

The Saucon Valley Junior Varsity team hosted Nazareth and lost 5-0. Several Colonial League teams, including Moravian Academy, do not have a JV team, so the schedule gets filled with non-conference games against bigger schools which have one.

“Our JVs gave it their all and will only improve with the challenges,” added Ochse on the matchup.

The Lady Panthers next travel to Salisbury on Saturday, Sept. 28, for a 10 a.m. kickoff.

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.