The girls soccer team was neck-to-neck with the North Creek High School Jaguars during their senior night on Oct. 25, resulting in a 1-1 tie at the end of the night.
Seniors Riley McQuade (she/her), Anya Gilbertson (she/her), Ella Wall (she/her), Danica Grotle (she/her), Dylan Magdziarz (she/her) and Denish Nash (she/her) were honored during the senior ceremony prior to the game. As part of the ceremony, the players’ families joined them on the field for pictures while an announcer read each senior’s future plans.
“The game was very emotional for me because it was my senior night, and we knew coming into the game that we needed to take a win to move on to playoffs,” said McQuade, who plays midfielder.
Magdziarz added that the senior ceremony boosted the teams’ adrenaline and made it exciting at the start of the game.
Nash, who plays outside forward, said that during previous games it would take a couple minutes for the team to kick into gear, but on senior night, they immediately started the game off strong.
Nash’s speed made her a key offensive threat, putting pressure on North Creek’s defense and allowing the Vikings to maintain good possession of the ball during the game’s first half.
When North Creek tried to score, goalkeeper Gilbertson successfully blocked many of their shots, maintaining the team’s momentum and encouraging field players such as McQuade to persevere.
“I thought Riley just had a bunch of really great balls over the top,” said Magdziarz. “Like every ball that she sent was perfectly over the top to the wings [left and right forwards].”
McQuade credited her performance to her ability to think ahead during the game. She said an important part of playing soccer is being able to read the field.
“I was able to read the next play and step in a couple times which gave us good opportunities to counterattack,” said McQuade.
Sophomore Samantha Snorsky (she/her) and freshman Thea Budden (she/her) were key outlets for through balls, which are passes sent between a gap in the defense.
North Creek shot a number of corner kicks early in the first half, but the Vikings didn’t let a single one make it to the goal. The Vikings were aggressive, attacking the ball in the air to protect the goal.
McQuade said that historically, the team has struggled with defending against corner kicks, but it was something they had worked on during practices, which paid off during the game.
Near the end of the first half, the Vikings lost their possession of the ball, allowing the Jaguars to score.
“It was an unfortunate goal because we had most of the momentum, and it was kind of a floater that just went right under the crossbar,” said McQuade.
The Vikings continued to aggressively drive the ball down thanks to great steals by Wall in midfield. The team passed many skilled crosses and multiple shots on goal were taken.
“I think the biggest weakness was our finishing, because we had the opportunities,” said McQuade. “The ball just didn’t end up in the back of the net.”
Early in the second half, North Creek made a goalbox foul, earning the Vikings a penalty kick. Budden took the penalty kick with confidence and scored for the Vikings, tying 1-1 with the Jaguars and giving the team momentum for the rest of the second half.
“As soon as we scored that goal, I was like, ‘time for the next one,’” said McQuade. “We grabbed that ball, and we knew we just needed an extra one.”
During the second half, the Vikings switched from four defenders to three in order to add a fourth striker and try to score. This left the Viking defenders 1-1 with the Jaguar strikers, but outside backs Grotle and Magdziarz kept the defense locked down.
“It was stressful for me because I’ve never done three in the back,” said Magdziarz. “But, we did good; it went well.”
Magdziarz and McQuade both credited junior Sydney Goetze (she/her) and freshman Charlotte Schenkein (she/her) for their defense and said they stopped the Jaguars from pushing towards the goal.
The game went into overtime after the second half ended in a tie. McQuade said overtime was intense because of the golden goal rule, which dictates that the next team that scored would win.
The Vikings played tough defense against the Jaguars. Both teams were desperate to attack and get a shot on goal, but the score remained a tie over the course of two five-minute overtimes, and the final score was 1-1.
Magdziarz said that winning would have been better, but she was proud that the team was able to hold North Creek into two overtimes.
“I think that we did really good,” said Nash. “That was definitely one of the best games we played all season. Everyone really put in good effort.”
The team was scheduled to play a rematch against North Creek on Oct. 31 if they had won their playoff game against Woodinville High School on Oct. 29. The team held a strong front against Woodinville, but lost 1-0, marking the end of their season..
McQuade said she was proud of how the team came together and bounced back from sickness or injury. She said there were a lot of things working against them during the beginning of the season.
“I think the way that we’ve grown as a team, and gotten used to playing with each other and our [playing] styles has really made us a powerful team,” said McQuade.
