The Columbia High Bruins girls soccer team split two Trico League games last week and remains within reach of accomplishing its goal of advancing to the WIAA Class 1A district and state playoffs.
The Bruins, guided by Coach Adriana Clayton, lost 8-1 on the road to the Seton Catholic High Cougars (5-1 league, 8-2 overall) Oct. 4 in Vancouver. The Bruins (2-3 league, 5-4 overall) bounced back with a 6-0 win over the Fort Vancouver High Trappers (0-2 league, 1-8 overall) Oct. 6 at Columbia High School in White Salmon.
“The loss to Seton was bad, but we came back and got the home win over Fort Vancouver, which we really needed and hopefully that will help set the tone for us this week,” said Clayton. “Our most important game of the season is Thursday at King’s Way Christian in Vancouver. We’ll be in a good position if we beat them and then beat Fort Vancouver again and Castle Rock, then we should have good chance to qualify for districts.
“We’ve been struggling with injuries and illnesses all year and hopefully everyone will be healthy this week and if we are, then I have lots of confidence in our team.”
The Bruins faced the Stevenson High Bulldogs Tuesday at home (result was after the printed edition deadline). Columbia’s next game is Thursday at 7 p.m. versus King’s Way (4-3) in Vancouver. There are five games left in the regular season, which concludes Oct. 27.
Columbia trailed 3-0 against Seton at halftime and then the Cougars scored two more goals early in the second half. Columbia sophomore Sequoia Cohen scored a goal in the second half to help the Bruins avoid a shutout.
In the win over the Trappers, senior Miranda Plascencia scored her first career goal to help the Bruins jump out to a 3-0 lead at halftime.
“Miranda played well throughout the entire game, and she really helped set the tone with her goal and she was in the right place in the right time, and she had good finishing touch to put the ball into the goal,” said Clayton. “Our center back, Piper Hicks, helped us with lots of attacking plays, she was super aggressive, and she was vocal on the field, which really makes her a good team captain for us.
“I was really proud of her because at one point were weren’t really playing well and she was able to motivate all the players with her voice on the field. I was really proud to see the leadership provided by seniors Piper and Miranda.”
All of the Bruin players dedicated the game to sophomore Siena Clayton (Adriana’s daughter), who is out for the season with a knee injury that will require surgery. The players all had Siena’s number 21 on their bodies to honor her.
Sophomore Saylor Hauge, freshman Sage Witherite, Cohen and junior Lisa Quist also scored goals to help lead the Bruins’ offense (75 shots). Quist, a foreign exchange student from The Netherlands, scored two goals.
“Everyone wanted to dedicate the game to Siena, and everyone was just taking lots of shots and they were hungry for goals, but to be honest, it wasn’t a pretty soccer game, but I was still very proud of everyone,” said Clayton. “They were all shooting, many of the shots were off target and they were so excited to just shoot, shoot, shoot the entire game.”
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