MEADVILLE – Slippery Rock couldn’t solve the Cathedral Prep defense.

Facing an impenetrable defensive wall that had surrendered just 10 goals all season, the Rockets became the unlucky 13th team to be shutout by the Ramblers in a 8-0 decision in Monday’s District 10 Class 2A semifinal at Meadville High School’s Bender Field.

“(Cathedral Prep has) no weaknesses whatsoever,” second-year coach Matthew Purtell said. “Our girls played a pretty solid game, but we were just overmatched. It’s tough, because you’re trying to defend and keep from getting too far behind.

“At the same time, you need to generate some sort of offense, so you can keep them a little in the midfield and not just living in your end. That’s easier said than done against a really good team like Cathedral Prep.”

While the Ramblers continue on the road to a D10 title, Slippery Rock’s only choice is to look back on a highly successful season that came to a close with a 14-4-2 record and a Region 2 championship.

“I was pretty pleased with our improvement,” Purtell said. “We were 8-10 overall last year and didn’t make it past the first round of the playoffs, so for them to go from an eight-win season to 14 wins and all those shutouts was a major improvement. We had essentially the same team. We just got better play from our goalie. I saw a lot of growth and their record showed that.”

Because of Monday’s loss, the Rockets said good-bye to their senior class of Magerie Foulk, Shareen Thangiah and Kendall Krenn.

“I chose those girls to be captains last year as juniors,” Purtell said. “I saw so much strength in them initially and they followed that up with such a great couple of years. They’re all great young ladies. I’m so happy for them and I hope they enjoyed these two seasons on the pitch with me here. I’m really going to miss their leadership, their drive and their tenacity. They’re really special.”

Purtell hoped to rely on his team’s strength – its defense – to slow down a Cathedral Prep squad that had put 108 balls in the net prior to kickoff Monday.

“We wanted to bend but not break like we had all season,” he said. “We were hoping that we’d come up and they’d come down in regards to that initial adrenaline of the game. We had stretches where I thought we played well, but they’re a very accomplished team.”

The Ramblers (18-1-1) took a 4-0 half-time lead on a pair of goals from Jordyn DiRaimo and single tallies from Peyton Rodgers and Kate Peterson. Cathedral Prep continued to pour it on with second-half goals from DiRaimo (two), Lauren McCormick and Rodgers for the final 8-0 tally.

“We always preach scoring by committee,” Ramblers coach Peter Wagner said. “We don’t have one person we focus on playing the ball to. Whoever is making a run or whoever is making a play is who we look to score.”

NOTES: Searching for their third consecutive District 10 championship, the top-seeded Ramblers will face second-seeded Fort LeBoeuf tonight at a site and time to be announced. … Cathedral Prep held advantages in shots (26-3) and corner kicks (3-0). … Slippery Rock goalie Sophie Hensel was credited with 12 saves.