The Girls’ Varsity Soccer team took the field on Wednesday against the San Pedro Pirates as they began their quest to return to the Invitational Championship for the second consecutive year.

Unfortunately for the LadyCats, the season did not start on the right foot.

A tough Pirates team had their way with the LadyCats for most of the game, penetrating the 18-yard box early and often and creating many opportunities to score.

The first goal of the game came on a San Pedro corner kick that ricocheted off the LadyCats’ goalkeeper and into the net.

Several of the Pirates’ six goals resulted from defensive over-pursuit of the ball, as well as miscues in the box and at midfield, that were due to a lack of cohesiveness.

“We have a lot of experience, and plenty of players that have knowledge of the game and have become assets to the team,” said Head Coach German Estrada.

“They need to learn to play with each other so we can exploit our own strengths,” he said.

Even on the occasions that the LadyCats defenders were able to stop the Pirates’ progress, the offense could not get in scoring range.

Part of the offensive problem may be attributed to the loss of star junior striker Maritza Perez to injury. The 6-0 final score was demoralizing, but it is still early in the season and the experienced squad should be able to overcome this loss. Estrada still has high expectations and reason to believe that this will be a successful season.

“We did good the first twenty minutes, we just need to coordinate our attacks better,” said Estrada. The LadyCats continue non-league play today at Gardena High at 3 p.m.