Gateway girls soccer contending for WPIAL playoff berth in Section 1-3A

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 21, 2018 | 8:12 PM

After winless season in section play, Gateway girls soccer coach Kelly Bender believed the Gators could bounce back and have more success this year with an experienced team.

Bender has been proven correct in the first half of the season as the Gators are the conversation for a WPIAL playoff spot at 4-5 overall record and 2-4 in Section 1-3A.

“This team is a team that has a team mindset. They’re constantly putting the team over themselves,” Bender said.

“They know what responsibilities they have on the field to make the team successful, and they are stepping up to do that. I’m very proud to watch these girls not only improve as individual players but as a team.”

Offensively, the Gators have been led by senior forward Olivia Wood and junior Becca Kubler. Wood leads the Gators with four goals and one assist, while Kubler has three goals and one assist.

Wood, an all-section selection last season, scored three of her goals to lead Gateway to a 6-1 win at Armstrong in Section 1 action Sept.17. The Gators had goals from Kubler, junior Brie Key and junior Maura Ryan.

Gateway won two of its first three games of the season with 2-1 wins over Latrobe on Sept. 1 and Penn Hills on Sept. 6. However, Bender believes the Gators have just started to find their way offensively.

“I’m excited about this team. I think that we’ve started to improve and peak. I think we’re united, and the girls are getting along really well. We’re starting to learn our style of play,” Bender said.

“We’ve created some scoring opportunities, which is really good. We struggled with that at the beginning of the year, but we’re learning how to attack.”

Outside of a 6-0 loss to Mars on Sept. 5, the Gators lost by either one or two goals to Indiana, Kiski Area, Plum and Hampton. Junior Maddy Neundorfer, an all-section selection last season, has continued to tend goal for the Gators.

Bender believes the fact the Gators kept the games close provides the team with the confidence that they can hang with any section opponent when they face them for the second time in the final half of the season.

“Most of our games have been one- or two-goal differential, so we’ve been in almost every game, and they could’ve gone either way,” Bender said.

“That’s the exciting thing about our section that a lot of games have been so close. It makes it exciting to see the tough competition and be a part of that tough competition.”

If Gateway wants to clinch one of the final playoff spots, the Gators will need to continue to have strong contributions from the rest of the team as they weather the injury bug. Junior Liz Richman tore her ACL during the Gators’ match against Kiski Area.

The Gators’ starting lineup includes two freshmen — defender Anna Reynolds and forward Addy Green — and they have surprised Bender in the first half of the season.

“I think that across the board we have a lot of people contributing from our freshmen all the way to our seniors, which is really nice as a coach to see,” Bender said.

“The freshmen have really stepped up. They’ve gotten considerable minutes. I’ve had two consistently starting every game. We’ve had some injuries to our upperclassmen so we’ve needed our freshmen to step up, and they’ve done a really good job.”

Andrew John is a freelance writer.

Tags: Gateway