For Little Flower, hard work has always been part of the equation. But winning the Catholic League championship?
Now that was a different story.
In the end, the eighth opportunity was golden.
After seven losses in the finals, Little Flower edged St. Hubert, 1-0, to seize its first Catholic League girls’ soccer championship. Sophomore Kelly Spross’ 16th goal of the season in the second half was more than enough for the Little Flower defense and junior goalie Caitlin Agnew.
When the game was over, Little Flower coach Markos Pittaoulis tried to describe what he felt. After so many disappointments — especially last season, when the Sentinels lost to Cardinal O’Hara, 2-1, in a championship double-overtime classic — Pittaoulis remained calm and impressively optimistic, always choosing to take the proverbial high road.
Now, as his players jumped all over the field at Archbishop Ryan High School, Pittaoulis could finally smile instead of frown.
“We’ve had some great teams over the years,” he said, “but we just came up short. Now that we’ve won, it feels so good. I’m so happy for everyone involved with the program.”
Little Flower, which finished 17-2-2, had no weaknesses. But the Sentinels have had terrific teams in the past that, unfortunately, ran into teams, either a bit more talented or with a little more luck on a given day.
Not this time.
“This is for every player who has ever played here,” said senior Ashley Smith, the Southern Division Most Valuable Player. “This feels just unbelievable. It’s hard to describe. We worked so hard for this.”
Finally.

You can reach John Knebels at jknebels@comcast.net.

Catholic Basketball Schedule
Sunday, Jan. 2 to Thursday, Jan. 6

Sunday, Jan. 2
BOYS
Catholic League North
Conwell-Egan at
Bishop McDevitt, 2:30 p.m.
Catholic League South
St. Joseph’s Prep at
Roman Catholic, 2:30 p.m.
Archbishop Carroll at
Monsignor Bonner, 2:30 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 3
BOYS
Catholic League North
Archbishop Ryan at
Archbishop Wood, 7:30 p.m.
North Catholic at
Father Judge, 7:30 p.m.
Cardinal Dougherty at
La Salle, 7:30 p.m.
Catholic League South
Cardinal O’Hara at
Kennedy-Kenrick, 7:30 p.m.
Southern Chester County League
Devon Prep at Kennett, 7:30 p.m.
GIRLS
Penn-Jersey League
Solebury School at
Mercy Vocational, 4 p.m.
Non league
Kennedy-Kenrick at
Germantown Academy, 3:45 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 4
BOYS
Catholic League South
At Philadelphia University:
Roman Catholic vs.
St. Joseph’s Prep
(Please call for time)
Ches-Mont League
Bishop Shanahan at
Downingtown East, 7:15 p.m.
Pioneer Athletic Conference
St. Pius X at
Upper Perkiomen, 7:30 p.m.
Spring-Ford at
Lansdale Catholic, 7:30 p.m.
Bicentennial League
Lower Moreland at
Holy Ghost Prep, 7:30 p.m.
GIRLS
Catholic League North
Bishop McDevitt at
Archbishop Ryan, 7:30 p.m.
Cardinal Dougherty at
St. Hubert, 7:30 p.m.
Conwell-Egan at
Archbishop Wood, 7:30 p.m.
Ches-Mont League
Downingtown East at
Bishop Shanahan, 7:15 p.m.
Pioneer Athletic Conference
Lansdale Catholic at
Spring-Ford, 7:30 p.m.
Upper Perkiomen at
St. Pius X, 7:30 p.m.
Bicentennial League
Bristol at
Villa Joseph Marie, 7 p.m.
Catholic Academies
Villa Maria at
Mount St. Joseph, 3:45 p.m.
Merion Mercy at
Sacred Heart, 3:45 p.m.
St. Basil at
Nazareth Academy, 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 5
BOYS
Non league
Stern Hebrew at
Mercy Vocational, 5:30 p.m.
Holy Ghost Prep at
Upper Moreland, 7 p.m.
Blair Academy at
Malvern Prep, 8 p.m.
GIRLS
Catholic League South
Little Flower at
Archbishop Carroll, 3:30 p.m.
Catholic Academies
Notre Dame at
Gwynedd-Mercy, 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 6
BOYS
Ches-Mont League
W.C. Henderson at
Bishop Shanahan, 7:15 p.m.
Southern
Chester County League
Oxford at Devon Prep, 7 p.m.
Tri-County League
West-Mont Christian at
Mercy Vocational, 3:45 p.m.
Non league
Shipley at Malvern Prep, 3:45 p.m.
GIRLS
Catholic League North
St. Hubert at
Bishop McDevitt, 7:30 p.m.
Ches-Mont League
Bishop Shanahan at
W.C. Henderson, 7:15 p.m.
Bicentennial League
Christopher Dock at
Villa Joseph Marie, 7 p.m.
Catholic Academies
Gwynedd-Mercy at
Villa Maria, 3:45 p.m.
Sacred Heart at
Nazareth Academy, 5:30 p.m.
Non league
Archbishop Wood at
Penn Charter, 5:30 p.m.

The area’s Catholic high school basketball schedule will be continued in subsequent issues of The CS&T.