After participating in the Owl Invitational pre-season soccer tournament at Prince George’s Community College for nine years, the Chapelgate Christian girls soccer team had never advanced to the finals. That changed on Saturday when the Yellow Jackets entered the tournament under new coach Christen Gjeldum.
Chapelgate was an impressive 3-1 in the seeding games, and won their semifinal game prior to losing to Bowie High School in the final.
Gjeldum’s squad logged victories against Calverton, 2-0, School Without Walls 2-0, and the Bowie JV 3-0. Their loss came to IAAM A Conference power St. Vincent Pallotti, in a 1-0 nail-biter, as the Panthers netted the game winner in the final 30 seconds of the contest.
In the semifinals, Chapelgate regrouped to down Gwynn Park, 2-0.
Junior Andelyn Smith was excellent in goal, only giving up one score prior to the playoffs. Freshman striker Lydia Frierson led the team with five goals and three assists and she was named to the All-Tournament team. Junior striker Kristen Thomas had two goals and two assists, senior midfielder Laura Lovaas had one goal and one assist, and senior midfielder Emily Marquina had two assists.
