Staff photo / Brian Yauger Poland striker Dulci DiGregorio (11) prepares to shoot while being chased by Girard senior Addison Silverman during Tuesday’s Division IV district semifinal at Dave Pavlansky Field in Poland.

POLAND — Coaches will say that it’s tough to beat a team three times in the same season.

When tasked with the challenge to reach a district final, however, Poland rose to the occasion.

While it was their toughest match between the teams this season, the Bulldogs completed the season sweep of Girard, 1-0, in a Division IV, Northeast 5, district semifinal.

Bulldogs junior Delaney Ankeles gave her team the advantage early, finding a gap and sneaking the ball past Girard goalkeeper Ellie Mohr.

“She’s having a great season, especially here toward the end of it,” Poland coach Neil Huda said. “It’s amped up. I love the way she plays. She plays on the wing and she does a great job.”

That goal was all Poland needed as Lillian McDonald and the Bulldogs’ defense preserved the clean sheet. Poland shut out Girard in all three meetings this year.

“They’re great,” Huda said. “They picked it up, and they’ve played great this season, and hopefully we can continue with that.”

The Indians end their season with an 8-6-5 mark, a new program record for wins.

“They’ve set the legacy, but even when we were talking (at midfield after the game), they were telling the younger players, ‘You guys are going to go higher than us.’ That’s what it really takes to be a good program, you’ve got to have seniors who care about what happens to the program after they’re gone,” Girard coach Dugan Paxton said.

The senior-laden Indians will have nine pairs of shoes to fill next season in order to replace the large group, but Paxton thinks the foundation is there for his team to continue to grow and succeed.

“They’ve seen the dedication it takes. It’s not just June to October, it’s June to June every single year,” Paxton said. “Obviously we’re graduating a lot, but we’re going to be fine next year because those seniors have done such a good job of building that foundation and helping those players be ready to step up into new roles.”

Poland has been guided by its depth this season with 15 different players registering goals for the Bulldogs.

Huda credits that to letting his younger players see time in the regular season. You never know when someone is going to be needed, so he wants his girls as ready as possible.

“We like to play the young girls during the season so they get an opportunity, just in case we need them in games like this,” Buda said. “And I think it pays off. I credit the whole team for not being selfish and sharing the ball.”

The Bulldogs (12-4-2) will take on Berkshire in the district final, set for Saturday at a time and location to be determined.

Knowing this matchup was in the cards, Huda familiarized himself with the Badgers. At the end of the day, though, it all is going to come down to the two things they’ve done all season.

“Play defense and score,” Huda said. “I’ve already watched a little bit of film on them, and we’ve got to stop their goal scorers and try to get a couple in early, and hopefully we can do so.”