Georgie Bickling, Lydia Balas, Ella Ordiway, Lauren Andersen and Audrey Smith have been a part of all of the Lady Dragons four consecutive District 10 championships, so it is only fitting that in their senior season they would get to host a game in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association 3A state championships on Tuesday night at War Memorial Field in Warren.

“They’re a special group,” Warren head coach Jeremy Bickling said about the seniors. “They’re the only five players that have been part of all four titles. They helped us get there their first year as freshmen and did the things they needed to do to put us in position to win this year.”

Unfortunately, the girls were tasked with taking on the Plum Lady Mustangs that took third place in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League. The Lady Mustangs showed just how tough the teams are in the WPIAL as they cruised to a dominant 8-0 victory over Warren.

“They’re tough,” Bickling said of Plum. “Coming from the WPIAL, really the only team they have struggled with is the defending state champions Mars. Their two losses are versus teams that will be in the finals of the state tournament.”

Warren’s Leyna Irwin, right, and Lucy Bigelow take space away from Plum’s Camryn Rogers. Times Observer Photo by Christian Storms

Plum was quick to show its speed with the early game plan being long passes for the speedy wingers on the outside. In the first five minutes of the game, the Lady Mustangs earned two breakaways, and after missing her first shot, Camryn Rogers made no mistake getting the scoring open in the fifth minute.

Then in the next 10 minutes, Plum scored three more goals in transition with Kaitlyn Killinger getting the first one and Annabel Arhin recording the next two for the 4-0 lead.

“They have fast players,” Bickling said about Plum’s offense. “Even this afternoon I was still scouting them, watching their game versus Latrobe and those runs were what scared me, just because they had so many options. You couldn’t just key in on one player to defend because they would find another space to go in and that’s what quality teams do.”

Plum added two more goals before the half to take a commanding 6-0 lead, while Warren struggled to muster anything sustainable offensively.

In the second half, Killinger scored her third and fourth goals of the night to reach the 8-0 final score. However, that did not stop the persistent effort from the Lady Dragons to get a goal on the board.

Warren senior Lauren Andersen moves a ball upfield. Times Observer Photo by Christian Storms

Even when facing an insurmountable deficit, the Lady Dragons never stopped competing. It went all the way down to the final minute when Warren forced a corner in the final seconds. The corner kick sailed past the heads of the Lady Dragons leaping in the box as time expired.

“We told them at halftime, regardless of the score, we don’t stop fighting,” Bickling stated. “The girls did that tonight and I’m super proud of them. For this quality of a team and to know that they were going to fight every minute, including down to the last second of the game. It’s just the way that I wanted to see them play and recognize this opportunity to play a state playoff game at home.”

Warren’s season ends at 9-10 overall, its seniors wrap up careers with four District 10 championships and Georgie Bickling ends with 87 career goals and 100 assists — both program records.

“Georgie is a special player,” Bickling added. “Not only am I proud of her as my daughter. She is humble, she’s worked hard, she’s always put her teammates first and even this season when it was getting close to the records it was the last thing on her mind. All she wanted to do was play and support her team.”

Plum improves to 18-2 and advances to the quarterfinals against Moon.

Warren senior Georgie Bickling knocks the ball away from a Plum defender during Tuesday’s game at War Memorial Field in Warren. Times Observer Photo by Christian Storms

Warren's Marielle Stanz delivers a pass during Tuesday's game. Times Observer Photo by Christian Storms

Warren's Eliza Brook protects the ball from a Plum attacker during Tuesday's game. Times Observer Photo by Christian Storms