Panthers Look For Second Straight

By: Jeff Seidel

The St. Vincent Pallotti girls soccer team pulled off a mild surprise and won last year’s Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference title. If the Panthers want to repeat, however, it won’t be easy.

Pallotti plays in one of the toughest conferences for any high school sport in Maryland. The Panthers needed to get dramatic victories at the right times last season -- such as the 1-0 overtime victory against John Carroll -- and will have to get more of the same this year.

They finished with an 11-5-2 record after taking the title. But for coach Mike Vawler’s team, the schedule is tough yet again.

The Panthers will play in the Laurel Tournament at the beginning of the season. But the schedule is rougher with road games set at the tough schools like McDonogh, John Carroll and St. Mary’s.

They end the season with road games at John Carroll and Seton Keough -- two days apart. However, Pallotti does have four out of five games at home before that.

The lone road game during that stretch is at Maryvale. So the road to a second straight championship won’t be a walk in the park, but the Panthers got through it just fine last year also.

Posted Aug. 25, 2008