Intimidation is a funny thing. Synonyms for the word include 'frightening', 'menacing', 'terrifying', and 'alarming'. Souderton was none of those things, but for some reason our team responded to the game today as if they were all of those adjectives at once. The Falcons came out ready to play their game, however somewhere along the way the foundation began to crumble and we lost our focus. Souderton scored in the first five minutes of the game putting them up 1-0. Soon after that, Pennsbury senior defender, Helena Sosa, went down with a ball driven into her head during a penalty corner. Sosa was taken out and could not return. That moment rocked us to the core. The game was stopped for some time to treat her and I don't think our girls ever snapped out of that injury delay. This is where the mental barriers get the best of us - we have to learn to navigate this aspect of our game better. We were losing 1-0 at that point and putting up a good fight, but then the Big Red tipped in another making it 2-0 going into the second quarter. Losing Sosa on defense was a huge blow to us today. We just got her into our lineup after her being out at the start of the season - it just broke my heart to see that happen to her. She is so solid on D and brings an element to our game that is so imperative for our backfield. Coach Traci Curtis said she could see it in her players' eyes that they were just not all present mentally after that. Souderton continued to dominate scoring two more in the second quarter taking a 4-0 lead into halftime. The Pennsbury coaching staff was scrambling to make the proper adjustments, change strategy, and continue to encourage their squad to stay in it. Unfortunately, as PHS spent time deciphering the mystery of their players, Souderton just got more comfortable and strong in their already high level game. They are incredibly fast and skilled in every facet - passing, receiving, hitting, dodging, decision making, movement, and more. The third quarter was much of the same with the Big Red tallying two more goals and the Falcons found themselves being shut out from end to end. We earned one penalty corner and executed it really well, but we were not able to finish and put one in. One more goal in the fourth quarter from Soudy brought the final score to 7-0 and another big shut out loss for PHS. Today was the first of a five game stretch for the Falcons. With only the weekend to rest and recover and a slew of difficult cross over games, it will be a great challenge and intense test of strength, both in hockey and self. Shout out to two Falcon players who were a continuous spark throughout the battle, never succumbing to intimidation - junior forward, Meg McClure and junior captain midfielder/defender, Olivia Graebner. There are not enough words to describe the gritty effort put forth by these two girls. They handle whatever comes their way and contribute above and beyond every single day. All we can do is put one foot in front of the other and be ready to play tomorrow against CB West. It will be a "Friday Night Lights" game on West's turf and another chance for us to learn and grow together to write the story of our season.