The Bethel Park Girls Varsity Soccer Team had both an exciting and successful season this year.

First came a 17-1 regular season, with the Lady Hawks going 12-0 in conference play and winning the section title.

The team then advanced to the WPIAL playoffs as the number three seed.  They defeated Franklin Regional in the first round on penalty kicks, 2-1.

Then, in the quarterfinals, the team defeated Norwin 1-0 in double overtime.

However, the team ran into trouble when they faced number two seed, Seneca Valey in the semifinals.  Bethel Park lost 1-0 on a late goal by Seneca Valley.

However, they still had a chance.  The top three teams make PIAA playoffs, and so the Lady Hawks had to play Gateway in the consolation game.  The Lady Hawks won the game 3-1, with Halle Hammer scoring two goals and Tatianna Ruzinni scoring another to push the team into PIAA playoffs.

However, the Blackhawks met their match in Peters Township in the first round of state playoffs, losing 3-2 in a tightly matched game.

And thus the Lady Hawks’ spectacular season had ended.

Seniors on the team who graduated were AJ Baroffio, Rachel Dunn, Melanie Burchfield, Sam Acker, Alycia Jimenez, Alexa Roth, Tori Bowler, Anna Scudiero, Emily Wagner, and Alexis Kiebler.

In an interview with head coach Mr. Gentile, he offered his final thoughts on the season: “Our goals before the season were to win a section title, get past the first round of WPIAL playoffs, make it to state playoffs, and play as a team.  We accomplished all of our goals, and it was a very successful season because of that.  Our goals for next year are to outdo this year and go even farther in the playoffs.”

Congratulations to the Girls Varsity Soccer Team for a great season, and good luck next year.