Hempfield girls soccer snaps 46-game losing streak

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, August 26, 2023 | 3:08 PM

The streak is over.

There aren’t four more refreshing words for the Hempfield girls soccer team to hear. There couldn’t be.

Not for a team that hadn’t won a game in almost four years. Not for a team that had not scored a goal in two years.

The Spartans were tired of hearing about the losing, and on Saturday morning they did something about it. They ended their 46-game losing streak.

Now this is what you call breaking news.

Sofia Lopez Diaz scored about 30 minutes into the game on a through ball from Lyla DiMartino, and Hempfield made the lead stand up in a 1-0 victory over visiting Greensburg Salem.

“That kid is hungry,” Hempfield first-year coach Jim Jones said of Diaz, who is from Mexico.

Hempfield had not won since 2019 and had not scored since 2021.

Last year, the team was outscored 164-0.

“Every girl knows what was on the line,” Jones said. “At the end of that game, there were a lot of tears.”

Lila Clark made 16 saves for the Spartans.

“She made some saves a second-year soccer player had no business making,” Jones said. “I told the girls, don’t be afraid to succeed today. They played that way.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Hempfield