As the 2024 season kicks off, the Bulldogs put the past behind them as they begin their march to success. Last year, the team progressed through the WPIAL championship game into the PIAA state playoffs where they fell to Bishop Guilfoyle. After the end of the season, the back-to-back WPIAL champions lost four vital seniors, meaning the team would need four starting positions to be filled by the beginning of the season.

“Losing the seniors made us have to start from scratch as a team. We have a good amount of girls returning to the team from last year, but some of the new players on the team are also seeing the field,”  captain Olivia Henderson (12) said. “Losing the seniors is making us view the game differently and shift our game plan to try to control the ball more. We are really just trying to connect as a team so we can connect on and off the field.”

Some of the returning players are captains Henderson, Riley Tokar (12) and Lila Houy (12), along with Mackenzie Mohrbacher (11), Farisa Roberts (11) and Brianne Casto (11). These players hope to hold a strong foundation for the team, while also helping the younger players on the team grow and flourish into better players.

In addition to returning players, the team is dealing with multiple injuries throughout the first couple weeks of the season. Major starting positions are being left in disarray due to multiple injuries to the key pieces of the team. Thus causing the team to take a different approach to gameplay and gameplans. Not only do injuries affect the dynamic of the team, it is also a tough battle for an individual to make.

“Injuries have more effect on the injured individual than the greater effect on the whole team. Since multiple of us are going through injuries though, we are really focusing on communication, especially when key positions are out or struggling,” Roberts said.

So far throughout the season, the girls have a record of 2-4. On Aug. 24 and Aug. 28, the team picked up victories against the Washington Prexies and the OLSH Chargers. On Aug. 26, the team picked up their first loss against their section rival, Riverside Panthers, with a score of 2-1. On Sept 4, Sept 7 and Sept 9, the team recorded three close losses against the Ambridge Bridgers, the Oakland Catholic and the Mohawk Warriors. In the next four games, the team will face four section opponents in the Eden Christian Warriors, the South Side Rams, the Riverside Panthers, and the OLSH Chargers.

With the season only just starting, the team hopes they can regain their injured players and build more team chemistry to help push the team back into their successful ways.

“I hope that our team can become stronger and be able to pull off a section championship as well as make it to the playoffs. I think if we work hard and work together we can make our goals happen,” Tokar said.