Lady Braves rally for two key league wins

The La Conner High girls’ soccer team twice saved its best for last against NW2B rivals.

And the timing couldn’t have been better.

The injury-riddled Lady Braves kept their league title hopes alive and kicking with a pair of key comeback wins last week.

La Conner, which improved to 5-1 in conference play, edged Mount Vernon Christian 3-2 after weathering a sluggish first half.

The Lady Braves followed a similar script in their 4-1 Thursday triumph over Orcas.

The twin wins set up a crucial home match with NW2B co-leader Friday Harbor tomorrow, Thursday, at 4 p.m.

“It’s our only game of the week, and it’s our biggest game of the season,” Lady Braves head coach Amy Freeto said on Sunday. “It will be our third and final match with Friday Harbor, and we’ve split the previous two meetings. So the winner of this game will almost certainly be crowned league champs at the end of the season.”

Despite the task at hand, Freeto and her charges were able to briefly rest on their laurels over the weekend.

Defeating Mount Vernon Christian and Orcas without injured senior captain Isis Gamble, and with Ashley Carlson somewhat hobbled, was definitely cause for celebration.

The win over Mount Vernon Christian was especially rewarding.

“As we projected in the early season, Mount Vernon Christian proved to be a gritty, well-organized team,” said Freeto. “We had two starters sidelined with injuries, and our team played compressed and fell into reaction mode. We were out of position and disorganized.

“They definitely won the first half,” she conceded.

And that, Freeto said, called for some halftime adjustments.

“We ended up putting Ashley (Carlson), who we had been trying to rest due to a foot injury, back on the field after halftime,” said Freeto.

The ploy worked.

“She allowed our defense to be comfortable in regular position and pushed our offense back up field,” Freeto said of Carlson.

The result was the Lady Braves strung together some nice passing combinations that allowed La Conner to seize momentum.

“We got back to playing our usual brand of soccer in the second half,” said Freeto.

Charlotte Bushey, Sophie Thulen, and Taylor Reimland scored for the victors.

Two days later, opposite Orcas, La Conner fell into the same early match rut, however.

“There were some of the same problems,” Freeto said, “but the same solution.”

Clinging to a slim 2-1 lead at the break over the struggling Lady Vikings, Freeto again inserted Carlson for the second half.

“Ashley apparently won’t get any real rest,” said Freeto, “and we’ll need to fill Isis Gamble’s spot pronto.”

In that regard, Bushey, Thulen, Reimland, and Emma Lee are certainly picking up the slack on the offensive end.

All found the net for goals in the Orcas match.

Freeto is thankful the schedule allows the Lady Braves to focus entirely on Friday Harbor this week, with no other foes for which to prepare.

“Thursday’s game will be our most important game to date,” Freeto stressed. “Not only is the league title important, but of more significance is earning the No. 1 seed into our Bi-District tournament.”

After entertaining Friday Harbor, the Lady Braves visit Concrete Oct. 20. La Conner then hosts Mount Vernon Christian the following evening, with action slated to get underway at 6 p.m.