Through all of their mishaps and bad luck, Catasauqua’s girls’ soccer team nearly gained the top prize.

The Roughies entered their final regular season game against Bethlehem Catholic needing a victory to receive a District 11 Class 2A playoff bid. Unfortunately, Catty dropped a 3-1 decision and they missed the postseason by one game, finishing with an overall 6-11-1 record.

Still, the Roughies can take plenty of moral victories along the way. For starters, they were able to field an entire team for their final game, a situation that certainly wasn’t in play for the majority of the season.

Senior Becca Harakal, who was sidelined for the majority of the year with a broken ankle, returned for the final games.

“We had our opportunities in that game,” said head coach Randy Gillespie about the Becahi game. “We were down 1-0 at the half and then fell behind 3-0 before we scored. After that, we had chances, but we couldn’t find the back of the net.”

An outbreak of injuries from the start of the season quickly shifted strategies and priorities. The Roughies found themselves in packaged weeks of three to four games a week, and it provided their younger players with valuable experience.

“We lost a number of players at the start,” added Gillespie. “Then we were soon playing four games a week and that really hurt us. We had to play some girls who really didn’t have a lot of experience, but that can help us in the end.”

The Roughies will lose nine seniors from this year’s team, but Gillespie is confident an influx of new players can maintain their status quo.

“We should be replenishing our losses with a good group of eighth graders,” said Gillespie. “We also have a good group of seventh graders. We feel good about where we can go from here.”

Gillespie also believes the program’s upward swing can continue to attract attention. The Roughies won five games last season after a pair of 0-18 campaigns and won six games this season despite all of the injuries.

Catty will look to incoming juniors Haley Baez, Madison Emery, Allanah George, and Amy Huber, all of whom have seen significant varsity time since their freshman year, to pace the club next fall.

Freshman goalie Madison Hicks had a strong year this season and can be a staple in the nets over the next three years.

“Madison (Hicks) was phenomenal,” stressed Gillespie. “Goalie has been a positon where we have struggled, but she can solve that issue in a hurry.”

Gillespie expects a core of his players to be involved in a winter league at Iron Lakes that will end in March and then will extend their year in a summer league at Lehigh University that will begin In June.

“We have some girls who will play basketball, but we have a good group that will continue playing,” said Gillespie. “We have gained more interest in the program over the past two years, and I really like our future.”