Catasauqua head boys' soccer coach Mike Baclawski believes his team basically is right on track this season.

With a number of seniors and promising younger players, the Roughies began the week with an overall 3-3 record and plenty of positives ahead.

"I know we have potential," said Baclawski. "We can be as good as we want to be. We had a really good summer and we were playing three pick-up games per week. I know the competition really helped us.

"We have seen a lot of good things already this season."

Despite what appears to be a seesaw beginning, Catty has remained resilient throughout. They opened with a 2-1 victory over Northern Lehigh before they dropped a 1-0 game to Wilson. They then suffered a 6-1 loss to Saucon Valley, but bounced back with a 2-0 shutout over Palmerton.

In their two previous games before this week, the Roughies were shutout by Moravian Academy, 6-0, and then reversed the fate with a 6-0 blanking of Tamaqua.

"We did some nice things against Northern Lehigh and then had a quick goal scored on us by Wilson," noted Baclawski. "Saucon (Valley) is always a good team and they got to us, but we came back with a good game against Palmerton.

"The kids are really playing hard together and battling."

Along with his returning core group of seniors, Baclawski has been impressed with fellow seniors Dave Wetherhold and Stone Vassa, both upperclassmen on the team for the first time. Wetherhold is a former football player, while Vassa plays hockey.

"Dave (Wetherhold) has been tremendous," stated Baclawski. "He (Wetherhold) gets better every day. He is really intense out there. Stone (Vassa) is a very quick defender and also around the ball."

Baclawski also cited the play of freshman Grant Gebhardt, who continues to rapidly develop.

"Grant (Gebhardt) has really been around soccer his whole life," said Baclawski. "But he has really worked hard to earn his spot. He plays hard for 80 minutes and he will help us make a difference.

"We have a number of younger players who can help us reach the next level."

The Roughies may get a quick reading on how far they are to reach that level when they tangle with Northern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh, and Jim Thorpe this week.

"We believe we can get back to districts with this team,' said Baclawski. "We just need to keep working and stay together."