The passes, penalty kicks, breakaways, through balls and scoring chances had all been there for Trinity Christian last year but one important thing was missing -- goals.

More often than not last season, opportunities for the Falcons went unanswered and this season through four games it looked like more of the same.

"We were plagued by that last year," coach Mike Agate said of the lack of scoring. "We held a lot of teams scoreless or to one goal but we just could never score any. This season I thought, 'Uh-oh here we go again.'"

What had Agate saying uh-oh was back-to-back shutouts against section opponents Greensburg Central Catholic and Serra Catholic and then a pair of 1-0 wins against Bishop Canevin and Geibel.

"We kept having chance after chance and breakaway after breakaway but we could not score," Agate said.

"After that Serra game we started to pick things up. We are figuring out how to score. I don't know what it was but some kind of confidence triggered and they started finding the back of the net."

In fact, the Falcons started finding the net at a rapid pace. They scored four or more goals on six occasions this season. But they slipped back to their old ways, losing to Winchester Thurston, 1-0, Tuesday. The Falcons ended the regular-season 11-7 overall and tied Serra for second place in Section 1-A at 10-4.

The lack of scoring was especially frustrating for senior center midfielder Anthony Marchilena, the player responsible for setting up scoring chances.

"He is such a solid player on our team," Agate said. "He plays all the balls for these guys. Last year he played all the same balls to everyone but no one could score. Now they are making use of all the great passes. Anthony is definitely the strong point of our team as far as offense goes. He is our quarterback."

Marchilena and the Falcons offense got a big boost with a return of three scoring threats. Two took a year off from soccer last season while another was sidelined by an injury. Senior forward Tyler Cole missed nearly all of last season with a nagging quad muscle injury.

Cole, whom Agate calls one of the fastest players he has ever seen, leads the team with 16 goals. Cole got off to a slow start just like the rest of the offense in terms of finishing around the net, but those problems were short-lived.

"He had a lot of breakaways at the beginning of the year but now he is figuring out how to get the job done," Agate said. "Even around the box he is shooting a lot better."

Two other forwards, Jonah Rickus and Alex Olijar, came out for the team this year after missing last season.

"Scoring has always been difficult, all three years I have been playing on the team it has been tough to get it into the net," Marchilena said.

"We have struggled with opportunities. This year we are more on the same page with each other. Our three forwards Tyler, Alex and Jonah, we have been playing with each other for two years now. I know where they are going to run and they know where my passes are going."

Marchilena and Olijar both reside in Plum while Rickus is from Penn Hills and Cole from Delmont. The additions of Rickus and Olijar and a healthy Cole have been especially important at a school as small as Forest Hills-based Trinity Christian that had a male enrollment of 43 students as of 2007.

"If you can imagine the pool you get to pick from, we have 19 on the team this year but you never really know what you are going to get," said Agate, himself a graduate of Trinity Christian.

"For some reason we have strong players who come through here. Some [were at the school] when they went to state finals a couple years back or had a big brother who was on the team. They all want to get back to Hershey."

On defense the Falcons have been helped out by another returning player, senior defender Steve Turner, who returned to the team this year after missing last season, and returning starter, junior Nathan McGuire. After playing outside back last season McGuire moved to sweeper.

"He has saved us all year long," Agate said. "He has been our stronghold back there."

Trinity Christian advanced to the 2004 PIAA Class AA title game, losing, 4-2, to Antietam. Some of the players were in the Trinity Christian grade school during the high school team's run at the K-12 school.

Hershey remains a goal for the Falcons, a goal that Agate never had a chance to strive for. When he played in the late 1990s, Trinity Christian was not a part of the WPIAL, they played in the Southwest Christian Athletic Conference.

The next time Trinity Christian misses the WPIAL playoffs, will be the first time. The former SWCAC school is eight-for-eight in trips to the WPIAL postseason.

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