Saucon Source (https://sauconsource.com/author/rief/)
With the start of the 2019 PIAA Sports season only two weeks away, Lady Panther soccer players, past and present, took part in the 13th annual alumni soccer game over the weekend. About thirty graduates returned home to Saucon Valley in order to reconnect and compete on a sultry Saturday afternoon.
Five Saucon Valley seniors and a Panther soccer coach were selected to represent the Colonial League and participate in this year’s LVSSAF All-Star Classic against some of the best senior players who made their home in the East Penn Conference. Last Sunday, boys and girls teams from each league squared off in an afternoon of soccer competition on the turf at Salisbury High School.
On Tuesday, Saucon Valley High School hosted their annual awards night. Students and their families eagerly entered the high school auditorium to see if their efforts were to be recognized for a variety of awards and scholarships that were presented. Principal Tamara Gary, Assistant Principal Tom Halcisak, Athletic Director Bob Frey and a few distinguished guests bestowed dozens of awards to dozens of Saucon seniors.
It was a PIAA state playoff game that was originally scheduled to take place on Tuesday at Northampton High School. But with the crazy weather pattern this past week the game was postponed three times. Finally on Friday, the Panthers and Springfield Cougars were able to avoid the thunderstorms and face off at Emmaus High School to see who would advance to the quarterfinal round of the PIAA State Championships.
Back in February the Saucon Valley Athletic Department hosted its annual Student-Athlete signing ceremony in recognition of National Letter of Intent Day. It is a day when student-athletes all across the country officially commit to their prospective universities. At that time a few Panthers were still undecided and had not yet made the decision where they would continue their academic and athletic careers. Tuesday evening in the high school library Athletic Director Bob Frey and his staff acknowledged a second wave of student-athletes who shared their college decisions.
Last year at the 2018 PIAA State Track & Field Championships Saucon Valley’s Talitha Diggs had to settle for silver medals in the 200m and 400m runs. Diggs was second-best to Avonworth’s Hunter Robinson in both events. In the 200m Diggs ran a 24.24 to Robinson’s 23.98. In the 400m Diggs sprinted for a 54.95 with Robinson running a 54.10. This year would be different.
Three days after defeating Allentown Central Catholic by a 4-3 score in the quarterfinals of the 2019 District XI playoffs, the Saucon Valley Panthers loaded the bus and travelled to Pine Grove for a neutral site battle with the North Schuylkill Spartans in the semifinal round. The Spartans, who are out of the Schuylkill League, are the #1 seed with a 17-2 record. Saucon came into this matchup as the #4 seed with a 14-7 record.
On Wednesday at DeSales University, the Saucon Valley Panthers (16-1) and Southern Lehigh Spartans (12-4) squared off against each other for the third time this season. The first game was a defensive struggle where the hometown Panthers held off the Spartans for a 6-2 victory. It took a couple of days to decide the second meeting that resulted in a 10-6 win in favor of the Panthers. With the stakes much higher this time these two quality opponents went at it again.
On Monday, at the neutral turf field at Emmaus High School, the #1 seeded Lady Panthers battled #4 Moravian Academy in a 2019 District XI championship semifinal. The winner would advance to take on the Southern Lehigh Spartans who defeat Allentown Central Catholic 15-10 in the first semifinal. Wit a loss, the season comes to a close. In their regular season matchup about three weeks ago, Saucon Valley defeated the Lions 16-6
Saucon Valley’s Talitha Diggs, once again stole the show in the 2019 District XI Track & Field Championships. After winning gold in the 200M and 400M Runs at last year’s District XI championships, Diggs ran her way to a repeat performance with a couple of victories in record-breaking times.
