By Dakota Wizeman

The girl’s soccer team has started off their 2024 season with a 6-2-1 record. With victories against New Hope, Kutztown, Palmerton, Solebury,  Pen Argl, and Catasaqua. The girls played Southern Lehigh away and could walk away with a 1-1 draw after a hard-fought game.  Unfortunately, the girls fell short against Northwestern Lehigh as well as Moravian Academy.

 The girls rely on the strong defense to shut down opposing teams’ offenses. The back line consists of Gabby Brader, Izzie Carson, Savannah Moninghoff, and Dakota Wizeman. They also rely on Jenna Magditch, Felicity Houghton, and Mia Battoni to put the ball in the back of the opposing team’s net. Right now, Captain, Jenna Magditch leads the team in goals scored, with 6 goals so far this season.  Captain Aubrey Boushell is dedicated to leading her team from the net. Aubrey has 4 shutouts this season and has been showing off her talent in her final year as a pirate. 

Gabby Brader, sophomore center back, shared some words about the season so far. With over half the team being underclassmen, she shared that the team is “full of heart and team chemistry”.  After talking with Brader about why she thinks that they were successful in the 6 games won, she shared how the team was full of passion and eagerness to face the tough challenge.  About the 2 games lost, she stated at Moravian that the team, “didn’t have our heads in the game” and talked about how they were not physical enough.  When asked about the Northwestern game, she simply talked about how competitive that team is and said, “they are a level we strive to be.”

Last season, our Pirates made it into both the district and league playoffs. Despite the effort and hard work the girls put in, they fell short in both quarter finals to Moravian Academy.  Moravian is a very competitive team with 3 current seniors signed to play Division 1 college soccer. They are a high intensity team, and it is always a challenge to beat them. This season, the girls may see them again in playoffs and they will be ready to work.  Unfortunately, the lady pirates fell to a 3-1 loss against them just a couple weeks ago but that just means our girls need to work as hard as possible to reach the next level.

Our pirates have a tough schedule ahead of them. Games against Bangor and Northern Lehigh are coming up next week, as well as games against Saucon Valley, Notre Dame Green Pond, and Upper Perkiomen later in the season. Last season the girls won over Bangor in a hard-fought 3-0 victory.  Although this season Bangor has been quite successful and surely will provide a tough match-up for the Lady Pirates.  In the previous season, Our pirates fell short in a 1-0 loss against Northern Lehigh. This year the girls are hungry for a victory and will be eager to take the win.  

Image Courtesy of @paligsoc Instagram page