Coach Shonbachler Shares Clarion Area Girls Soccer Mid-Season Review

All images by Maria Wilson – Above: Action against Redbank Valley

(By Clarion Area Head Coach Chris Schonbachler)

The Clarion Area Lady Cat Soccer Team had a busy start to the 2022 season, playing 8 games in the first 3 weeks. 

Their first game resulted in a 1-0 victory over the Forest Area Lady Fires, with Alex Leadbetter scoring the lone goal in the contest. 

In their second home game against the Brockway Lady Rovers, the Lady Cats started fast, dominating play for the first 15 minutes and gaining a 1-0 lead on a goal by Anna Gribik.  Brockway evened the score on a successful penalty kick, then added a second goal to take the lead. 

Lexi Coull and Alex Leadbetter both scored for Clarion, but the Lady Cats came up short in a 5-3 loss. 

The team traveled to West Branch for the Lady Warrior Tournament.  The Lady Cats played well in both tournament games against West Branch and Phillipsburg-Osceola, but were unable to capitalize on opportunities and dropped both games. 

The girls regained their scoring touch in their next game at Keystone, rolling to an 8-0 win. Lexi Coull and Alex Leadbetter scored 2 goals each, while Anna Gribik, Julianna Wilson, Allison Acey, and Katera Sebastian-Sims added a goal each. 

The next contest saw the Lady Cats square off against the Redbank Valley Lady Bulldogs, which is always a competitive match. This game was no different as the Clarion girls and Lady Bulldogs traded 1 goal leads for most of the game. 

Lexi Coull led the Lady Cat offense, notching her first hat trick of the season. 

Redbank was able to find the goal a couple times late in the contest to earn a hard fought 4-3 win. 

Clarion hosted Bradford the following week. The overall team speed of the AAA D9 Lady Owls was a tough matchup for the Lady Cats.  Although the final score of 8-1 looked very one sided, the Lady Cats played very well through most of the contest and actually gained some confidence in their abilities against a very strong Bradford squad. 

Lexi Coull had the lone goal for Clarion with a successful penalty kick. 

In their last game against the Brookville Lady Raiders, the Lady Cats struggled to find the team chemistry they showed against Bradford.  After 80 minutes of game time and 20 minutes of overtime, the game finished in a 1-1 tie. 

Anna Gribik scored the goal for Clarion with an outstanding left footed shot from 20 yards.

As the team heads into the second half of their schedule, they’ll look to add more consistency in their level of play.  Lexi Coull has led the Clarion offense with 7 goals in 8 games.  Anna Gribik has also played strong through the first 8 games, with 3 goals and 4 assists.  Katera Sebastian-Sims, in her first year playing soccer, has been an anchor on the defensive side of the field. 

While the team enjoyed the victories they earned, the coaches are confident that plenty has been learned in the losses as well.  The team will look to apply those lessons in the last 8 games in route to a winning season. 

Their next game will be Wednesday, September 21st when they travel to Punxsutawney.

(Have A Great Second Half Of The Season, Bobcats!!!)

(Thank you to Coach Schonbachler for this review and Maria Wilson for her pics!!)