The Parkland High School girls soccer team finished the 2023 regular season unbeaten, winning 17 of its 18 games with only a 2-2 tie against Central Catholic back on Sept. 1 as the only blemish.

The Trojans won the regular season title, winning their final 15 games, and earned the top seed in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference tournament. They took down the eighth seed, Bethlehem Catholic, 3-2, last Monday evening at Parkland High School. They took a 2-1 lead at halftime and added an insurance goal in the second half to hang on late.

Lauren Ervin scored off an assist by Ellie Kocher and then Dani Marsteller added the second goal of the first half for Parkland. Marsteller then assisted on Isabella Hallal’s second half goal to round out the scoring for the Trojans.

“Being the top seed is something the girls work very hard for, starting back in June,” said Parkland head coach Al Haddad. “Their determination to each year represents the program, the players before them and themselves is such an amazing thing to be a part of. It is easy to coach a group of dedicated players playing for the girl next to them and not about their own playing time and individual success.”

After last season, Parkland graduated a large senior class, including several key starters. This year’s team was going to look completely different and have a ton of newer and more inexperienced players in the starting lineup. But that did not stop the Trojans as they continued the winning tradition as the top of the conference.

“After graduating 13 seniors, eight of which started, I really pleased with how our defensive line has started to gel,” said Haddad. “Our front line and especially midfield has done a great job of taking the pressure off the backline allowing them to come together as a collective unit.”

Parkland then played the fourth seed, rival Emmaus in the semifinal round this past Wednesday at Whitehall High School. The Trojans defeated the Green Hornets 3-1 in the regular season finale last Wednesday.