The Upper Perkiomen girls soccer team suffered its fifth straight loss Monday afternoon. Head coach Mike Freed says his team is in a funk following a 4-0 non-leage loss to Gwynedd Mercy Academy on Monday.

                Rachel Koller scored twice for GMA, an all-girls Catholic college-preparatory high school which competes in the Catholic Academies League. Marey Casey added a goal and an assist for the Monarchs.

                "No disrespect to the opposition, but I think this loss was more of a case of this team underachieving," Freed said.

                The Indians are in a funk, according to senior forward Jenna Wismer.  "Our confidence is very low right now," Wismer said. "But I'm confident we can turn it around."

                The team has managed just two goals during the losing streak.

                "Scoring has been a problem," Freed said.  Against Gwynedd Mercy Academy, Upper Perkiomen managed just six shots on goal, according to Wismer. "Not many of them were good shots," she said.

                According to Freed, the challenge of playing five consecutive Pioneer Athletic Conference opponents from the Liberty Division has worn down his players.

                "These five crossover games have been very taxing," he said. "I have never liked that aspect of the schedule. It's been that way for several years. I wonder if it's something that can be altered."

                The Indians opened the crossover portion of their schedule with a 1-0 victory over Perkiomen Valley on Sept. 21. Wismer scored the game's only goal with 13 minutes left in the second half to snap a scoreless tie off a pass from Mackenzie Gebhardt. Rachel Morelli registered four saves.

                They failed to score in their next three games against Spring-Ford (2-0) on Sept. 23, Methacton (2-0) on Sept. 25 and Boyertown (3-0) on Sept. 30.

                Upper Perkiomen scored twice in a loss to Owen J. Roberts. Mackenzie Gebhardt and Megan Ritting found the back of the net in a 7-2 road loss.

                "Those games have been very taxing," Freed said. "To take on all these bigger schools consecutively is quite a struggle for the smaller schools in the conference. Part of the problem is that we're facing teams that are more organized defensively."

                According to Wismer, the Liberty Division schools often overwhelm the Indians with more players and greater intensity.  "Our defense usually starts strong," she said. "But we always seem to have a breakdown within the first five to 10 minutes, and we can't get ourselves back in the game."

                Wismer expressed confidence that the Indians (4-8 overall) can regain their confidence on Wednesday when they take on visiting Pottstown in the PAC-10's Frontier Division.

                "I think we will pull ourselves out of it Wednesday night," she said.

                In September, the team posted a 9-0 victory over the Trojans to open its PAC-10 schedule. Mackenzie Gebhardt scored twice for Upper Perkiomen.

                Helena Buhrgard, Kayleigh Durning, Hannah Leight, Taylor Kearney, Kiersten Gregory, Jess Schaut, Emily O'Sullivan also scored for the Indians in the Sept. 9 win.

                On Wednesday afternoon, Upper Perkiomen was scheduled to take on Southern Lehigh in a non-league game. According to Wismer, several junior varsity players will compete in the game.