The Wolverine Varsity Girls Soccer team dominates

By Robert Rainier Spaulding, Journal contributor

The Friday Harbor Wolverines were hosted Providence Classical Christian School Oct. 24. The fall color at Linde Fields were in full display. It was even kind of warm out considering the time of day and year, just a nice autumn afternoon bringing out a good size crowd cheering for both teams. Overall it was a great day to play some soccer.

The Wolverines record so far this season is 8-4. After watching a few games played by this team, they have drive, they have vision, and they do not give up. This game being a perfect example of those qualities. The first half was played largely on the Providence Classical Christian side of the field with their defense hard at work, but they couldn’t seem to slow down the Wolverines offense. By the end of halftime, the score was 3-0, Wolverines.

By now it’s getting cold and dark. Not ideal playing conditions, but defense was holding on stronger than ever. The score just kept going up.

“The Wolverines continued their dominance over Providence, winning 7-0 at home in a relentless display of offense. Friday Harbor played nearly the entire match on Providence’s side of the field, with junior captain Charley Lawrence-Sampson netting her second hat trick of the season, bringing her total to eleven goals, along with her first assist,

Coach Brian Leighton said. “Atziry Orozco and Lyla Ovenell each contributed two goals and an assist. Orozco’s ability to slip through defenders now puts her at eight goals and four assists this season, while Ovenell, with her vision from the forward position, is now third on the team with seven goals and leads in assists with five.”

It’s moments like these where a team decides who they are. Are they going to take the foot off the gas because it’s more or less a guaranteed win, or will they keep grinding and pushing and playing as hard as they can because the players know they can, and they are ready to show the world. That is the type of team Wolverines have here, they will win and they will win big given the opportunity. The Wolverines wouldn’t allow Providence to score the entire game, that’s called a shut out and it’s a pretty special thing in sports. It was that statement towards the end of the game of, ‘yes we know we are going to win, but we’re still playing at your highest level and scoring goals because that’s what we do’ that made this team truly stand out.’

Freshman forward Hazel Leighton had one of her strongest games, according to Leighton, delivering a picture-perfect cross that nearly gave Orozco a hat trick. Meadow Carlson made an impact on the right wing, maximizing her minutes and showcasing her energy. Nikky Clark Cole showed her continued development, moving the ball up the sideline and joining the attack more confidently. Wren ShearerKing also showed major strides with every match; she made her mark on the stat sheet with a pinpoint pass to Ovenell at the back post.

Final score of 7-0 sent Providence Classical Christian home with a rough loss, but that’s sports sometimes. You have to take the good with the bad, and luckily for us the good was on our side for this game, and the girls came away with a truly great win.

“The Wolverines’ defense was rarely tested, but when needed, the back four, led by senior captain Nylah Pieples, was rock-solid. Their consistency secured junior goalkeeper Georgia VanderYacht her fourth clean sheet of the season,

Leighton said. “With this win, the Wolverines improved to 8-4 (4-2 in conference) and will face Lopez in their final regular season match.”

Leighton also gave a recap of the Oct. 18 game against Mount Vernon Chritian:

The Wolverines faced Mount Vernon Christian in storm-like conditions, determined to improve on their previous 5-0 loss. Holding their own, Friday Harbor went into halftime with a 1-0 lead after an own goal by MVC. Unfortunately, the Hurricanes quickly equalized early in the second half on a ball the Wolverines believed had clearly gone out of bounds. Both teams remained gridlocked at 1-1 for much of the half, with Friday Harbor’s defense showing grit, but MVC managed to pull ahead, ending in a 3-1 Wolverine loss.

They play at home next Friday, Nov. 1 against the Lopez Lobos which is always a fun matchup. Kick-off is at 3:30 at Linde Park. Come cheer this team on!