ARLINGTON — After claiming second place in the 4A Wesco North regular season, the Arlington girls soccer team traveled to Lake Stevens on Nov. 2, where they faced Kamiak in the first round of the 4A District 1 Soccer Tournament. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they lost the loser-out game by a score of 1-0.
“It was a tough, defensive battle,” said Arlington Head Coach Nathan Davis. “They defended us very well and forced us into quite a few turnovers. They only mustered two shots on goal, one of which got in. We had five shots on goal, but nothing really great.”
Davis said his team played a good game, but just came up short.
“Overall it was a good match, but they got one in, and in soccer, one goal can be huge,” said Davis. “I think that Madi Grogan, who returned from her broken nose, had a really good game in the back. I thought that up front Bre Morren played really well, and Olivia Larson also did a really good job.”
Despite being knocked out in the first round of the District Tournament, Davis said his team had a successful season.
“We are disappointed that we didn’t go further. We had dreams of making it to state, so the loss was a disappointment,” said Davis. “But I think that the learning that went on this season, and the improvement and development of the young players overall, was very good. I think they did a lot of growing up and maturing as soccer players. In addition, they showed a lot of mental toughness in fighting off some adversity, as we had a lot of big injuries they had to battle through.
“Overall, when we look back at our season, we are pleased,” said Davis. “We finished second in the league, we had the most goals scored in 18 years, and we had the best goals-to-goals-against ratio we have ever had. In addition, we will probably have the most players on the all-league selections that we’ve ever had. They accomplished quite a lot this year.”
While the loss ends the Eagles’ season, Davis said he is not only pleased with what the team has accomplished, but is also pleased to have worked with the girls on the team.
“This has been a really fun group to coach. They love soccer. They enjoy the game, are fun to work with, and are fun to teach,” said Davis. “They are really nice kids, who worked really hard to accomplish their goals.”
