Joining Section 1-AAA a year ago, the Franklin Regional girls' soccer team faced an uphill climb.

The section had long been ruled by powerhouses Norwin and Penn-Trafford. Now in its second season in that grouping, Franklin Regional is starting to establish itself as a contender.

The Panthers remained competitive throughout in a season-opening loss to Norwin, 2-1, and then exactly two weeks later Franklin Regional upset Penn-Trafford on the road, 2-1, snapping Penn-Trafford's 32-game section winning streak.

But Penn-Trafford exacted some revenge last week, trimming the Panthers, 4-1. That only slowed the Panther's run toward a playoff spot, however. They regrouped to win their final three matches of the regular season, including two in section play, to clinch a WPIAL playoff berth.

The Panthers finished in third place behind Penn-Trafford (14-3-1, 13-1) and Norwin (14-3-1, 12-2). Those two programs have finished first or second in the section four out of the past five seasons.

"We cannot get intimidated," senior forward Paige Foughty said of playing against the top teams in the section.

"We go into the Norwin and Penn-Trafford games nervous, knowing they have that chip on their shoulders. We don't come in with that. Norwin and P-T -- they come in knowing they can beat us, we don't come in with that idea. Beating P-T this year just meant everything, it was such a big win for us."

To compete against the Knights and Warriors, coach Rich Garland knew his team would need a combination of skill, speed and chemistry.

The talent and speed was there from the get-go, but learning to play together and developing chemistry concerned Garland. His team bounced back from back-to-back losses to open the season with a seven-game winning streak and that did plenty to alleviate Garland's concerns.

"I am pleased with our progress. We are coming together as a group," Garland said. "We have some significant talent and now we have started to develop some chemistry. That has been the difference this year."

Another difference this season has been the team speed. The Panthers lost a lot of experience due to graduation a year ago but the quickness of this year's lineup has been making up for that.

"We have been creating some real opportunities in the attacking third with that speed," Garland said.

Franklin Regional finished the regular season with 45 goals. Through all of last season, including the playoffs, it scored 41 goals.

No two goals may have been bigger than the two in the win against Penn-Trafford. That game has served as the signature moment of the season.

"We have always had the goal to beat Penn-Trafford, but I am not sure if we thought we actually could," said senior forward Jessica Garland, Rich Garland's daughter. "That was a really big win for us."

Defensively, the Panthers have been even stronger. The defense has remained just as stout as last season despite the departure of Chris Pellegrino, a four-year starting goalkeeper and four time all-section player.

Franklin Regional shut out eight opponents thanks to the strong play of the new netminder, Katie Katilius, returning defensive starters Brittany Manski and Jillian Jonov and returning defensive midfielder Morgan Shultz and sophomore center back Janel Zupetic.

"I think we are exceeding expectations," Shultz said. "We beat P-T [earlier in the season] and we proved everyone wrong. Everyone was just on their game that day. We just put it all together."

Without question though it is Katilius who came into the season with the biggest shoes to fill and she has become the biggest surprise. Considering Pellegrino's performance the past four years, it is easy to see why Katilius was reluctant to take over the position at first.

"She didn't necessarily want to play there, but she gave the team the best opportunity to win by playing in goal and she has," Garland said.

"[Goalie] was a question mark coming in. Christine was such a leader back there, it was comforting for me as a coach. When this season started, Katie stepped right into that role and became a vocal leader. She makes a lot of good decisions. She saves everything that she should save and she gets some shots that probably should go in."

Leading the attack for Franklin Regional has been Foughty and Allie Bonnell. Foughty, a senior All-WPIAL player the past two seasons and a University of Akron recruit, leads the team with 17 goals.

Bonnell is second on the team with 12 goals. Sophomore Nikalette Fonseca is also a returning starter at forward.

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