Through their first six games, Catasauqua’s boys’ soccer team experienced some growing pains. Now, the Rough Riders will have to adjust with the busier part of their schedule ahead.

Catasauqua recently battled Lehighton to a 0-0 tie, and the Roughies are undefeated in two of their last three games heading into this week. They picked up their first win with a 5-0 shutout of Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg.

Head coach Josh Inman was impressed with backup goalie Joey Conway in the Roughies’ tie with Lehighton. Yet, he knows his team still needs to put it all together.

“We are not yet playing up to our potential,” stated Inman. “Now injuries and absences have made things even more difficult.

“Against Lehighton our starting keeper Liam McGinley was at a college ID camp so we did not have him, but our backup Joey Conway played a great game and kept the shutout. It was too bad that we could not finish any of our breakaways in the game that ended in a 0-0 tie.

“Joey had five saves, and more importantly, he stopped a point-blank shot in the second half. He moved to his left and just purely snatched the ball out of the air with great hands.

“After a number of starters not being available due to things like college ID camp, SAT testing, and injuries, we really held together and played very well.”

Inman sees his club being thoroughly tested this week with four games on their docket. Yet, Inman believes his team can make some strides.

“The week ahead for us is absolutely brutal, even if we can get some of these injured players back,” reflected Inman. “We play Moravian Academy, Southern Lehigh, and Notre Dame Green Pond, all teams with advantages over us which makes it difficult to compete against them.

“Our players will give it their all, and we believe we can squeeze out some success from these games for the rest of the season.”