A resigned quiet came over Bethlehem Catholic when Freedom midfielder Cecelia Warren’s penalty kick gave the Patriots a two-score lead in Freedom’s 2-0 victory over their city rival on Sept. 20 at Becahi.

“They tried to come at us good, but we were stronger, and offensively, we were playing better today,” said Freedom co-captain Yzabella Garces. “Last year we won against them, but this year, since we went up two goals, I feel like it made us all happy and excited that we beat them again.”

Becahi got several shots off midway through the second half but were unable to find the back of the net.

Sophia Arvelo made a nice save for the Golden Hawks on a possible third goal in the 78th minute and ended the match with 7 saves.

Freedom goalie Brooklyn Pronovich made 5 saves for the Pates.

“We played last night against Emmaus. Emmaus is in first place, and we lost in overtime with four seconds to go, 1-0,” said Freedom coach Tony Billone. “And then Parkland, first game of the season, we played extremely well. We held the lead at halftime against Whitehall and lost, 2-1. Same exact scenario here, coming off a game against an undefeated team, winning 1-0 at halftime. I wanted them to see how the scenarios were so similar and how we were unable to finish the game against Whitehall and how we needed to finish the game today.”

Patriot midfielder Hannah Heidemann scored Freedom’s first goal with a shot that sailed over Arvelo’s head in the 13th minute.

Becahi saved a second shot by Heidemann after Arvelo pushed the ball out from behind her just in time, and a Becahi defender cleared it away.

“I think the biggest thing, and I don’t know if this is gonna sound like an excuse or not, but the field is very, very hard,” said Coach Billone, regarding the Pates’ one true goal. “You can’t play soccer on a field that the ball doesn’t roll. The ball bounces, bounces, bounces. There’s no true passing, so that’s the biggest problem here. We’re not only playing against Beca. We’re playing against the field. The way we like to play the ball is passing to feet and into the space, and today we couldn’t pass because of the way the ball was bouncing.”

This week, Bethlehem Catholic will host Easton on Sept. 25, and Freedom will host Stroudsburg on Sept. 27.