For the first time since 2014, the Parkland girls soccer team did not claim the District 11 championship last fall. The Trojans lost 2-1 to Nazareth in the quarterfinals after winning the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference title for the sixth straight season. They finished the 2019 season 20-1-1 overall.

As in previous years, head coach Al Haddad and his program graduated a large, successful senior class, including four players that went on to continue their playing careers at the collegiate level.

The seven graduating seniors from last year include Ava Schaller (Lehigh), Emily Leiby (Stevens), Zia Reed (Carnegie), Grace Smith (US Naval Academy), Erica Lincoln, Kara Schmitt and Adriana Aubele.

But Parkland welcomes back a strong core from last year’s team including Jocleyn Fowler, Alex Marsteller, Maeve Leonzi, Emma Schock, Zuzu Mohamed, Teresa Gonzalez, Abby Lytle, Maddy Amadio, Mariana Aubele-Gonzalez, Demi Olatilo and Mo Olenwine.

This group will bring some key assets to the field for the Trojans in 2020.

“We have great speed at all 11 positions on the field and a fantastic group of seniors eager to lead us,” said Haddad. “I’m looking forward to coaching this group this season.”

Some newcomers that Haddad and his staff will rely on for contributions include Ivy Dias and Madison Bowman. Parkland will have more of an inexperienced bench that will see varsity minutes for the first time this year as Haddad is known to use a lot of different players each game.

“Our bench is young and will need to work hard and follow the lead of the top senior class,” Haddad said. “We like to play a number of players, so our younger group will have to catch up to the speed of varsity play rather quickly with a shorter season.”

With a shortened season due to the pandemic, the conference is divided into divisions. Parkland’s division includes Central Catholic, Allen, Dieruff, Whitehall and Emmaus. The Trojans will play home-and-home games against each team starting with their season opener on Friday, September 25 against Central at Parkland High School.

The goals for 2020 for Haddad and his program remain the same.

“Although this will be a different season, we always have the goal of putting academics first, our community second and then putting ourselves in position to challenge for championships third,” said Haddad. “We’ve also raised $21,301 for charity last year, bringing our four-year total to $80,777.”