Mount Si’s girls’ soccer team looked to start the season 2-0 last Thursday, Sept. 10, but played catch-up all night in a loss to Eastlake.
Despite a Laura Barnes goal, Eastlake scored a pair of their own to take the 2-1 result.
As the fourth-ranked team in the 4A league, Eastlake is a powerhouse. Still, Mount Si coach Darren Brown was concerned by the Wolves’ early lead and quick turnaround in the second half.
It took just 30 seconds for the Wolves to get on the board in the first half. Senior midfielder Laura Elston came down the field and fired a shot toward the net, which skipped past Wildcat goalie Marika Loudenback. With Eastlake on top, the score stayed put for the rest of the first half despite a large number of Wolf scoring chances.
In the second half, it continued to stay at 1-0 Wolves until the 57th minute, when Mount Si’s Barnes got open to the left of Eastlake goalie Bryce Kennedy and ripped a shot past her into the net, tying the game 1-1.
The Wolves didn’t blink, and found themselves right back in front just 30 more seconds after the Barnes goal. Junior midfielder Kelly Morro took a shot towards the net which arched high in the air. Mount Si’s backup goalie, Carly Weidenbach, was unable to reach the ball, which landed in the net. Eastlake was up to stay, thanks to what could be best described as a Gateway Arch-style goal.
Mount Si had one last chance to tie in the 80th minute, when freshman Miranda Rawlings fired a point-blank shot towards the net — but the ball sailed over the goal.
The ‘Cats played well considering the strength of their opponent — Eastlake is expected to be among the state’s best at 4A. That bodes well for a league schedule that starts this week.
“If we can play with them, I think we can play with anybody in our league,” Brown said.
Senior captain Taylor Robbins was also pleased with how things went.
“As a team, it’s a really good start to our season compared to years past,” she said.
The Wildcats are ready to get the 3A schedule started.
“We’re going to put all our effort into coming up the following games, but we’re really excited for the actual season to start against Liberty,” Robbins said.
In other action, Rawlings had a dream night last Tuesday, getting her first high school assists, two of them, as the Wildcats blanked Lake Washington 2-0. Rawlings assisted goals by Lauren Snead and Jessica Hargett.
Mount Si varsity is at Mercer Island, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17. The Islanders are among five teams, including the Wildcats, who are expected to challenge for the conference postseason this season. Points against this team now are going to be important if Mount Si wants to be in that hunt in October.
