The Penn-Trafford Warriors nearly upset the defending Class 2A WPIAL Champions, Peters Township, in an overtime thriller this Tuesday.
After tying in regulation 3-3, Peters Township’s Eliza Muehlbauer scored the winning goal in sudden-death overtime. The Warriors failed to score on two penalty corners earlier in overtime.
“Our pace was consistent throughout the entire game, and we were more aggressive to the ball in every position, but we turned it over too much tonight,” coach Cindy Dutt said. “I couldn’t be prouder of what they put on the field. I thought everyone gave everything they had.”
P-T (1-5, 2-5) incorporated better passing and a consistent pace for their game against Peters Township (3-0, 4-1), but one of the biggest differences came on the sidelines.
Constantly held up by players, the two signs, “YET” and “BELIEVE,” offered motivation.
“We have a little sign that says ‘YET’ because every time that you say you can’t do something, you have to say ‘yet’ at the end of it. It’s Coach Dutt’s thing. For the ‘BELIEVE’ sign, we’re struggling to believe in ourselves that we can score and we can win, so they just made a little sign. So, every time you look over, it’s ‘BELIEVE,’” senior Gabi Rubbe said.
Rubbe scored twice, tallying one in the third and another in the fourth. Her goals put the Warriors in the lead before Muehlbauer scored the tying goal late in the fourth quarter.
“I feel that we did really well. We’ve been getting better at passing and communication and overall a lot better,” Rubbe said.
Sophomore Brooke Bauer added, “We’ve been including more passing sequences. We’ve been sharing the ball and doing ‘three-touch passing’ in practice. That’s what’s been getting us to be successful.”
P-T senior captain Sarah Ley scored the first goal of the game halfway through the first quarter off an assist by Annabell Carvajal. This was Ley’s second game back after a midseason head injury.
“We had a good feeling we could stay with Peters because they tied Latrobe, and we beat Latrobe once,” Ley said.
Tied for last place with Upper Saint Clair in Class 2A, the Warriors are fighting for one of four playoff seeds. After winning eight consecutive WPIAL titles, the Warriors fell short last year and are rebuilding this year.
“There’s only one team that doesn’t make the playoffs, and right now, we’re tied for that team,” Dutt said.
Other than against Pine-Richland (reigning 3A WPIAL Champions) and their initial meeting with Peters, all of Penn-Trafford’s losses have been within two points.
“Although our record doesn’t show it, we’ve been competitive with all the games in our section. We’ve lost by one goal, or it’s a call that could’ve gone either way,” Dutt said. “Tonight, in the last few minutes, I should’ve subbed a little bit sooner, but I thought we had the better of Peters for most of the game.”
The Warriors face back-to-back games, playing tomorrow against Class 3A Hempfield Area.
“The girls have been conditioning quite a bit, and as much as they hate it, they understand that this is why we do it. Back-to-back is going to be tough,” Dutt said.