Aug. 28—The Washington Catholic varsity girls' soccer team (0-1) took on the South Knox Lady Spartans in the heat on Saturday morning. The Lady Cardinals fell to BCC opponent, South Knox, 3-1 in their opening game of the season.

South Knox opened play with a heavy attack focused up the sidelines. Strong defensive play from the WC back line, led by senior Audrey Jerger and junior Celeste Santiago, limited the opportunities the Spartans had to score from the field. Senior goalkeeper, Addie Talbert, made several saves from inside the 6-yard box to keep the score level at zero. At the 8:00-minute mark of the first half, a handball in the box resulted in a penalty shot for the Lady Spartans. The Spartans netted the shot as WC goalkeeper got a hand on the ball but couldn't get enough to block the shot. The Lady Spartans took the lead 1-0 into halftime.

Washington Catholic looked to turn the attack up the field in the second half as senior Rosie Serrano led the Cardinal attack from the midfield. WC nearly connected on a fast-break opportunity as a through ball from the midfield found Sophomore Angela Santiago making a run. Santiago's shot deflected off the Spartan goalkeeper and then the crossbar. Santiago's rebound shot was just over the bar.

South Knox would find themselves in a similar scoring situation as they were able to get the ball into the WC penalty box. The ball deflected around the box and hit the hand of another WC defender, giving South Knox their second penalty kick of the night. The Spartans were again able to beat WC keeper, Talbert, and set the score at 2-0.

WC would look to cut into the lead as Serrano played the ball up the right side to freshman Chloe Babrick. Babrick carried the ball around the defense on the right side before crossing a pass into Angela Santiago. Santiago gathered the ball, turned, and fired a shot passed the Spartan keeper to make the score 2-1.

WC was unable to find the back of the net for the rest of the match. South Knox would net one more score as the Cardinals were called for a third penalty in the box, this time for a tripping foul. The third PK for the Spartans would also find the back of the net, setting the final score at 3-1.

"It's always tough to give up a PK in a game, let alone 3, but I'm not upset with our play today," WC Coach Austin Deem said. "Today was our first game and we did lots of things well once we settled in from the nerves. Today showed us plenty of positives from our off-season training, but also shows that we need to clean up certain areas. I think if we improve on some details, we are going to be in good shape," Deem finished.

The Lady Cards will look to bounce back this week as they face the Bloomfield Cardinals on Tuesday night at Rees Field.