After a thorough 6-1 drubbing of league rival Seattle Christian at home on Sept. 26, the Vashon High School girls’ varsity soccer team looked to make it two league wins in a row versus arch rival Charles Wright on Tuesday, Oct. 3, at home.
Vashon’s Pirates are undefeated at home and they were determined to remain that way. The home team came out strong and quickly got on the scoreboard, courtesy of the head of junior Anna Riggs just three minutes into the game. The ball was sent in perfectly from the corner by freshman Payton Venturi. It wasn’t long, however, until the Tarriers of Charles Wright were able to tie the game with a header of their own off a free kick that just looped over the outstretched arms of Vashon’s freshman goalkeeper Tamsin Henry. It looked as if it might be another typical back-and-forth game, but as she has been all year long, centerback Riggs repeatedly left her post in defense to join in the attack. It paid dividends again in the 37th minute as she drilled home her second goal of the game with her right foot.
At halftime, Vashon held a slim 2-1 lead.
As the sun set and the lights came on, so too did the Pirates. The second half was dominated in the midfield, as usual, by Dalia Aladin and Emily Serebryakov. While Vashon seniors Lizzy Sutherland and Emme Osborne helped lock things down in the back, up front, sophomore Sydnee Adams did what she does best, put the ball in the back of the net. She added to her growing season goal tally in the 43rd minute, putting the “good guys” up 3-1. However, she decided one goal wasn’t enough and joined Riggs in netting her second goal of the game later in the second half.
The final score was Vashon Pirates, 4, Charles Wright, 1. The win elevated the Pirates to second place in the Nisqually League standings.
But the second-place standing would be short-lived as the Pirates last Friday took on Cascade Christian, which is ranked first in the league, and lost 2-1.
The Pirates are now third in the league and played a non-league game against Chimacum after press time Monday. The team will play Seattle Christian in Seattle at 4 p.m. tomorrow, Thursday.
— Scott Nicolino is head coach of the Vashon High School varsity girls’ soccer team. Brian Adams is the father of a VHS varsity girls’ soccer player.
