The spring can be a hard time to be a high school athlete playing an outdoor sport. With the crazy weather and uncertainty of whether a game will be played, many teams are made to scramble and reschedule key games for later in the season no matter what that game day’s weather may be like.

That’s what happened Wednesday when Regina Dominican hosted Rosary on April 27 at Regina’s Techny Towers sports campus. The two were making up a game that was originally scheduled for April 11 and with the GCAC Tournament seeding meeting next week, Wednesday’s game was going to get played, downpour or not.

In the end, Rosary pulled out a 3-2 win over the host Panthers, pulling through the dark, rainy, muddy conditions, ending Regina’s unbeaten streak at three.

“It’s really hard to play in this weather, especially since you can’t really pass the ball,” Regina sophomore Audrey McGraw said. “It ends up being pretty much like a kickball game, but still a lot of fun.”

To make things rougher on the Panthers was the fact they were down to 12 players, with three players, including last year’s leading scorer, Caroline Baubonis (concussion), who are out for the year. Ten of the 16 players on the roster are freshmen or sophomores and the squad has only one senior.

“It’s definitely hard playing with no subs,” McGraw said. “It gets tiring, but we’ve been doing it almost all year so we’ve gotten use to it.”

That wasn’t stopping Regina from playing its game, however. After falling behind 1-0, Regina got on the board thanks to its only senior Sarah Allworth, who put the ball past the Rosary goalie to tie the game. The goal marked Allworth’s second goal in three games and fifth on the year.

Regina, which tied De La Salle 0-0 on April 26, was able to take the lead at 2-1 when McGraw, a transfer from California, put a ball into the upper right corner in the 14th minute, giving the Panthers their first lead of the game at 2-1. Like Allworth, the goal was also McGraw’s second goal in three games and sixth goal on the year.

Despite controlling much of the beginning portion of the second half, the Royals scored an equalizer by knocking in a free kick from about 35 yards out in the 60th minute.

The Royals went ahead when one of their players kicked a ball that went through the Regina goalie’s arms and legs and snuck into the goal, giving the visitors the victory in the 73rd minute. Despite how hard the Panthers pushed, they weren’t able to tie the game up.

“The end of the game was obviously frustrating, but we couldn’t really do anything about it. The ball is slippery and crazy things happen,” McGraw said.

Regina’s best chance at an equalizer came at in the 75th minute when a free kick by McGraw hit the frame of the goal and bounced back.

“We were able to suck it up and play so hard today,” McGraw said. “If we can play this good in the rain, it’ll make us even better and make us work harder in good conditions.”

Regina (0-3-2 GCAC, 3-9-2 overall) learned its postseason fate last week when the IHSA announced the seeds and matchups for Class 1A soccer. The Panthers are the six seed in the Marian Central Sectional and will be playing in the North Shore Country Day Regional. Their first round opponent will be the host team, one Regina lost to 3-0 to start the season. The winner will most likely face Rochelle Zell for a chance to win the regional. The Panthers will be looking for their first state playoff win since 2013 and their first Regional title since 2012.

– See more at: http://www.wilmettebeacon.com/high-school/girls-soccer-short-handed-panthers-lose-muddy-affair#sthash.TQ1vdGpX.dpuf