“Soccer was my first sport as of last year,” Wright said after the Patriots had opened their Catholic League schedule with a 6-1 win at Bonner-Prendie. “I made the switch because I was being recruited by bigger schools for lacrosse.”

Her passion for soccer hasn’t waned.

“I decided to play lacrosse in college, but I enjoy both sports equally,” Wright said.

She also enjoys playing on a relatively young Carroll team. One of the leaders is junior Olivia Stout, among the best midfielders in the Catholic League.

Freshman Colleen Lloyd has already made an impact as a goal scorer.

“Our team is definitely young, we have a lot of new freshman who will be an asset to the team, like Colleen (Lloyd) who is a striker and super fast,” Wright said.

Leading the way in the opening Catholic League win over Bonner-Prendie was Stout with a hat trick.

The Patriots then played their second Catholic League game, falling 1-0 to contender Lansdale Catholic. This showed that Carroll can hang with one of the league’s top teams.

Enthusiasm at Bonner-Prendie

The game was long over except for the outcome. Bonner-Prendie was trailing Archbishop Carroll, 6-0 in the opening Catholic League game for both teams.

Yet Bonner-Prendie was playing with unbridled enthusiasm. The players on the bench were cheering loudly for those competing on the field.

And late in the second half, Bonner-Prendie hit the scoring column for the first time in their opening game when freshman MaryKate Cappiello hit the back of the net.

That brought an enthusiastic eruption from Cappiello’s teammates, who were into the game, regardless of the score.

“I find that if you try your best to keep it positive and just give direction on how to make it better, don’t point out the negative, just give direction on how to make things beter and we will pick it up,” said assistant coach Kayla Butts. “They really support each other so well and they try to keep their spirits up on the field and once that comes togeehr we will only get better.”

Watch out for LC

While defending champion Archbishop Wood and last year’s finalist Archbishop Ryan remain the favorites in the Catholic League, nobody should sleep on Lansdale Catholic. The Crusaders have a veteran team and appear to be a viable contender.

LC opened up its Catholic League schedule with a 2-0 win over Conwell-Egan. Emily Simpson had a goal and an assist. She assisted on Megan Steinbach’s goal. Molly Norbury assisted on Simpson’s goal.

Lansdale Catholic then defeated Archbishop Carroll, 1-0 as Simpson scored the game-winner.

Paige Eckert and Maddie McCloud each had two goals, with McCloud also adding an assist. Other goal scorers were Avery Lubbe (one goal, one assist), Kate Panepresso and Ava DeGeorge, who also had four assists.

Ava DeGeorge is a junior and among the top players in the Catholic League and the state.

In a 4-0 win over Cardinal O’Hara, DeGeorge scored twice with Shaina Klose and Sophia Topakas scoring once.

Lauren Greer made three saves.

Tough beginning schedule

Could any team have had a tougher start than Cardinal O’Hara?

The Lions had to face Archbishop Ryan and Archbishop Wood, last year’s finalists, in the first week of league play.

Cardinal O’Hara opened its Catholic League schedule with a 3-0 loss to Archbishop Ryan. Even in defeat keeper Ava Hinelski came up big with 15 saves.

The Lions trailed just 2-0 at halftime against a Ryan team where once again there are high expectations.

Cardinal O’Hara then lost 4-0 to Archbishop Wood. The score was just 2-0 at the half, showing the Lions were competing with the defending champs.

Hinelski ended with 12 saves.

Before starting league play, O’Hara has some strong showings in non-league action, including a 5-0 win over Friends Central. The Lions received goals from five different players – Lily Marquis, Hope Scolis, Maddie Ellis, Greta Miller and Caitlin Henzel.

In the first half, St. Hubert’s controlled more of the play, but the Conwell-Egan defense held tight.

Late in the first half, coach Andy Adamec decided to move Connie Wojton up from defense to midfield to give the offense a spark.

The move paid off when Wojton converted a long shot for a goal, a laser that she sent from about 30 yards out.

“She is a very talented defender but she can play anywhere,” Adamec said of Wojton. “She is one of my captains and I trust her anywhere on the field.”

As for the goal, Adamec said, “I don’t think anybody could have saved that, it was a rocket.”

It sure was.

Wojton was asked if she could have it any harder.

“I don’t think so, I just ally wanted that, all that power went straight through it,” she said.

Conwell-Egan then received an insurance goal late in the second half from Gianna Vorgity to seal an impressive win.

Then St. Hubert’s came out against Conwell-Egan and had the much better of the territorial play during a scoreless first half.

The same happened early in the second half, but then the goal by Conwell-Egan’s Wojton with 25:30 left, turned things around.

It was a game in which St. Hubert’s just couldn’t finish some chances.

“We play good possession, but we have a young team,” St. Hubert’s coach Jeanette Graziosi Hibbs said. “So we have to build confidence and then have somebody who really wants to attack and take the ball and take the opportunity to shoot. Sometimes that can be intimidating for young players because they don’t want to miss or make a mistake, but we are working on it.”

Olivia Bradley and Rylee Sundemeier each had two goals, while Hayden Johnston, Isabella Torres, Rory Bagnell and Mia Stendardo were the other goal scorers.

Mark your calendar

Thursday, Sept. 22, the first big showdown occurs when Archbishop Wood meets Archbishop Ryan. When these two meet it’s always a playoff atmosphere and this should be no different. The game will be 8 p.m. at the Ukrainian National Soccer club on Countyline Road.