The first-seeded, back-to-back WPIAL Champions, the team who won 14 shoutouts, and the team who scored 91 points this season, took an unexpected turn last Thursday. 

On October 28th at 6:30pm, the North Allegheny Girls’ Soccer Team lost to Fox Chapel. Nobody on the team expected to lose, especially to the 9th ranked team in the quarterfinal game. Both teams put up a good fight, but neither team could find the back of the net during regulation time.

I was there.  I was on the field the whole game. 

But it still feels like a dream. I am waiting for someone to tell me to wake up. My last year playing for North Allegheny ended, just like that. No more long bus rides or late-night study sessions, no more playing under the lights of Newman Stadium. 

It is almost harder to accept the fact that we lost in six rounds of a penalty kick shootout than to have lost in regulation time. Most soccer fanatics would say that penalty kicks are straight luck and never the way to go out, but it is just part of the game. 

A rumor spread that Fox Chapel had put so many defenders on the field in order to make it harder on us to score because they wanted to make it to penalty kicks. After a three-hour long game, I still find myself wishing there was more time on the clock.

Five days later, and I still find myself running through plays, thinking of what I could have done differently. But, honestly, that is not the way to go about it. We lost and sometimes, especially with sports, life does not go as planned. Upsets happen, and even though I am still bitter about it, it is just another good life lesson. 

Soccer is a team sport, and I have had the time of my life playing for North Allegheny. I have made so many great friendships and memories. For me, the hardest part about losing this game was not losing the actual game but losing the chance to play another time with my best friends. 

The NA Girls’ Soccer Team is probably one of the most despised teams in our section. Everyone hates playing us. When we lose, it is a big deal. And especially after this loss, social media blew up. 

While I am flattered that everyone hates us because we were the team to beat, seeing the posts made it much worse. Everything ended, all of the sudden, without any chance to do it over again. 

Last Thursday was a bitter but important reminder that sometimes life does not go your way. Some people get overlooked, and so do some teams. 

The pain of not going to states this year kills me, but I could not be more proud of all my team has accomplished. This season NAGS still broke records. People expected us to win because in the first time in North Allegheny’s soccer history, we won 14 shoutouts and scored a total of 91 points. We ended our section games undefeated. 

Even though our season abruptly ended, it is still a huge honor to be a part of such a wonderful program. Every single person on the team made an enormous contribution, even the ones who feel overlooked. 

This loss hurt even more because school friends and teachers made comments on how far they thought we were going to go. Friends told me that they did not want to come to our games because we were too good. The expectations hurt more than the loss.

All I wish for is playing one more game with my best friends. However, along with winning and breaking records, a big part of soccer is learning to accept the loss.

I am proud to have had the honor to play for North Allegheny and to play with and against all the wonderful talent in Pennsylvania girls’ soccer. Sometimes it does not go your way, and this was one time it did not.