With only five area games remaining this season, coach Jeff Schmidlkofer said his team needs to focus on making fewer mental and fundamental mistakes.
Wednesday night, the Panthers (3-2) faced off against area rival Whitefield Academy (4-1) and lost 8-7 in a tough game that came down to the final minutes.
“We made too many fundamental mistakes,” Schmidlkofer said. “Their team executed better than we did, but we are still growing.”
Senior forward Kevin Yoggy said he feels the same way.
“Against Whitefield we underperformed and came out slow. We need to pick up the pace of play if we want the rest of the season to go well.”
Last week the difference between winning against Whitewater (1-2) and losing to Holy Innocents (3-0) was again the team’s focus, said junior midfielder Kyle Mitchell.
“Going into the Whitewater game, we knew we were going to win, but we didn’t want to treat it as a joke,” Mitchell said. “Playing Holy Innocents, we should have been more serious earlier on in the game.”
In the March 14 game against Holy Innocents, the Panthers lost another nail-biter game in the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t play well early on,” Schmidlkofer said. “We made a run late, but came up a little short, losing 10-9.”
On March 12, the Panthers hosted Whitewater and won 16-2 in a blowout victory.
“I think this game showed the hard work and chemistry this team has,” senior defender Jon Pilato said. “It was probably the best we have played this season.”
Their next game is at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow at Allatoona High School.