Taylor Lahasky had a goal and two assists as Catholic High advanced to the Division III girls’ soccer quarterfinals with a 3-0 win over Riverside Academy Tuesday.

Lahasky, who had both assists in the first half as the Lady Panthers built a 2-0 lead at the break, finally got on the board late in the game as she deposited a pass from Madeline Vines into the net after missing three scoring chances in the second half.

“It just felt good to play with my teammates,” said Lahasky. “It just goes to show that it doesn’t take one person to win, it takes all 11 of us.

“Madeline took the ball down the field and I saw the opening. We just kind of connected on the play. The ball deflected off of a person. I just finished it.”

Lahasky was more relieved that the ball finally went in the goal after missing on several chances in the game.

“I was thankful that it went in,” said the CHS senior. “I was struggling but I knew that if I kept at it and kept trying that eventually it would go in.”

Kaelynn Dressel and Sydney Schwing scored in the first half off assists from Lahasky  as the fourth-seeded Lady Panthers moved on in the playoffs and will face either a rematch with No. 5 Academy of the Sacred Heart-New Orleans or No. 21 Northlake Christian in the quarterfinals.

CHS coach Brandon Francis wasn’t expecting another 10-0 win like the Lady Panthers got in the first round, but he got what he wanted, a win to advance to the next round.

“The further you go in the playoffs, the tougher the opposition is going to be,” said Francis. “Riverside is a good team and they forced us to play smart tonight. We were able to respond and come away with the win.

“It started with our defense. They were able to turn away several Riverside attacks and allowed us to concentrate and start our offensive attacks.”

Riverside coach Stephen Millett was hoping to be able to slow down Catholic High on offense and get a couple of counter-attacks going, but the Lady Rebels weren’t able to get the offensive attacks going.

“If you’re going to do anything, you have to beat the best,” said Millet. “We weren’t trying to pack it in on defense but we were trying to create a line of defense and let them come to us.

“The strategy was to conserve some energy and not chase the ball. It was somewhat effective but we were sitting too deep in the field and it came back to hurt us.”

Now the Lady Panthers are staring down a possible rematch in the next round. 

Sacred Heart beat Catholic High in the finals the last two seasons.

“I’m ready for a rematch if it’s ASH and I’m ready to take it to the next level,” said Lahasky.