Catasauqua’s field hockey team was happy to make it back to the district playoffs for the second consecutive year, and the Rough Riders also learned plenty along the way.

The Rough Riders finished the season with an overall 7-11 record, which dropped them into the fifth seed to meet fourth-seeded Pen Argyl (8-8-2) in the District 11 Class 1A playoffs.

In a hard-fought game, Pen Argyl pulled out a 1-0 victory.

Second-year head coach Amanda Freiler believed her team could have had a high seed if not for some close losses. The Roughies suffered one-goal losses to Bangor (1-0), Lehighton (3-2), and Pocono Mountain East (3-2) as well as a 2-0 defeat to Saucon Valley.

“We were happy to have made it to district playoffs for the second year in a row,” stated Freiler. “We were disappointed in our seed being so low, as we had a lot of games that we should have and could have won. That meant we did not have home field advantage for playoffs and we, unfortunately, had to play at Pen Argyl on their grass/dirt field, where we are a turf team.

“It was a hard fought game, but they definitely had the advantage playing on grass. A few of our key players were still nursing some injuries too.”

Senior Shelby Haldeman paced the team in scoring with 14 goals and nine assists. Fellow senior Zoe Roth had two goals and five assists, and sophomore Kamryn Pushkar had three goals. Sophomore goalie Lizzy Bass recorded 173 saves.

Haldeman’s contributions surely will be missed.

“Shelby (Haldeman) is a phenomenal player and always will be,” said Freiler. “She was definitely someone the team looked up to for help with their own skills.

“The team knew she was someone they knew they could rely on.”

Haldeman saw her team take some major steps this season.

“I feel the girls really took the time and the effort to improve,” she said. “With our team getting better every day, it allowed us to achieve our goal of making it to districts.

“I am also proud of my personal performance and accomplishments this season.”

Freiler expects her team to take the next step.

“It was an eye-opening experience,” she said. ‘Now we know for next season how important all those winnable games are.”