The Lady Vikings lost 2-1 against the Ocosta Wildcats in their first trip to the state tournmanet Saturday on a cold day with clear skies.

Rather than be disheartened, however, Coach Chama Anderson said, “I am so proud of all these young women. They’ve come such a long way skills-wise, taking the game from a technical to a tactical level.

“They’ve mastered basics and as that has become intuitive, I’ve watched them develop into a more mature team, looking for passing lanes, figuring out the strategic placement of the ball given a certain pattern on the field, talking to one another. And to come this far in just two years of having a girls soccer team…I am proud of them and delighted at their progress and commitment.”

The soccer team, which won their district play-off game and was seeded third in the state play-offs, put up a battle on Saturday at Mount Vernon High School against the Ocosta Wildcats.

During the first half the Lady Vikings did well, dominating offensively throughout and threatening repeatedly at goal.

While pressuring the Orcas defense, the ball shot past the last Ocosta defender and Grace Thompson put on a burst of speed 20 feet away and got control of the ball in front of the defender.

She fought for it and finessed the ball past the keeper in a nice low shot into the net.

The Orcas team held Ocosta, but at the beginning of the second half, one of Ocosta’s faster players on the front line powered the ball past two Orcas defenders and put it into the net.

“I saw our team waver just a bit at that, and then the Ocosta team dominated the ball in the second half,” coach Anderson said. “There was an indirect penalty kick outside of the box and it hit the far post and had so much power on it that the ball spun into the goal. We had 20 minutes to tie it up, and I pulled our keeper out to put more pressure on the ball but we just couldn’t get it back into the net.

“Alison O’Toole made a great save during the second half; she was playing keeper and dove hands first into the feet of a defender coming on and she took a kick to the head in a layout dive to smother the ball. That’s an example of the kind of determination these players showed all season.” 

Special mention goes to seniors and team captains Maddy Smith, Ashley McCloskey, and Chelsie McGinnis, who played their last game for Orcas.

“I want to applaude all the girls for a great season,” Anderson said.

“This includes Suzanne Mietzner, Sophie Thixton, Grace Thompson, Hannah North, Sarah Wooding, Huxley Smart, Alison O’Toole, Jacqlynn Zier, Emily Diepenbrock, Stephanie Shaw, Emma Smith, Makala Forster, Tika Thorson, Bobbi Lowery, Samantha Tidwell, Annalies Schuh, and Ashley Klein. Also, I am so grateful for all the support from Casey Joyner, Coach Dahl, Matt Stolmeier, Terry Turner, the parents and the community,” Anderson said.