Every underdog story has a pattern. The underdog in sports has a pattern that the women’s soccer team find themselves familiar with.

“We were the underdogs of this tournament which was a positive for us because other teams didn’t expect us to come out as tough as we did,” senior Gabby Widman said.

The Pioneers started the year 2-8-1, with a four game losing streak to start off the season. However, Point Park put together four wins in their final seven games of the season, clinching the fifth seed in the River States Conference (RSC) playoffs.

The underdog story continued after the team beat WVU Tech 2-0 in the quarterfinals. The next step in the story was to upset No. 1 Asbury. Easier said than done.

“Early on we had some trouble, but in the second half we had more success,” head coach Bethanie Moreschi said.

Going into the game, the focus was on breaking apart the Eagles’ defense.

“We were looking to find the gaps in their defense. especially on the outsides,” Moreschi said. “They do really well possessing the ball and making the field bigger, we were hoping to counter that by shrinking the field.”

The first half was a tight contest defensively. The only exception was an Asbury goal courtesy of Paige Miller in the 27th minute.

“I think we came out to play and played our game, but the way we were playing wasn’t working with the formation they were playing,” sophomore Taylor Goldstrohm said. “Going into the second half, we adjusted how we were going to attack and we were able to score some goals by doing that.”

Asbury was the first to go on a goal scoring spree in the second half. In the 50th minute, Susannah Terrazas put the Eagles up 2-0.

Despite Goldstrohm cutting their lead to one in the 57th minute, Asbury potted two goals in the following 20 minutes to put the home team up 4-1.

However, a comeback started to brew.

“They went on their heels and we had opportunities,” Moreschi said. “We finished the chances we had. I was proud of their perseverance.”

The comeback started in the 72nd minute when Goldstrohm sent her second goal of the game into the back of the net, with Nikki Polens chipping in with an assist on the goal.

With four minutes left, the sophomore connection linked up for a final time this season when Goldstrohm assisted on Tia Horew’s goal that trimmed the score down to 4-3.

“The bench was cheering us on every step of the way from the warm up to every minute of the game,” Widman said. “That support pushed us to keep fighting till the final whistle.”

Unfortunately for Moreschi and her team, the underdog story was never meant to be completed.

The Pioneers finished the season 4-5-1 in the RSC. While Point Park’s women’s soccer team has not won a championship since 2017, the team showed resilience and an overall promise for next season.

Moreschi could not be any more proud of her team.

“They played with heart and passion for the game and respect and love for one another,” Moreschi said.