Lady Braves clinch league soccer crown at Friday Harbor

The La Conner High girls’ soccer team always seems to get the run-around at Friday Harbor.

But last week it meant the Lady Braves will stay well in the running for a State title.

La Conner, with its players having made their traditional mad dash from the ferry landing, clinched the NW2B championship and a coveted top Bi-District playoff seed with a gritty 2-1 comeback win over the Lady Wolverines on Thursday.

With the triumph, the Lady Braves improved to 9-0 in conference play and completed a regular season series sweep of Friday Harbor — never an easy task.

La Conner was 11-2 overall going into a late Monday home match with Concrete.

At Friday Harbor, the Lady Braves overcame an early 1-0 deficit behind goals from Emma Lee and Kayla Hagen.

Lee notched the tying score when she deftly lofted the ball over Friday Harbor’s keeper, converting the play, despite suffering a shin injury that sidelined her until late in the match.

Hagen delivered the game-winning score in the second half after receiving a pass under pressure from teammate Taylor Riemland.

“Taylor was fighting off several defenders,” La Conner head coach Amy Freeto said afterward, “and she sent the ball to Kayla, who calmly put it in the open net behind the defense and Friday Harbor’s keeper.”

A wild celebration on the La Conner side ensued.

Amid the hugs and tears, Hagen found just the right words to capture the moment.

“I’ll remember that goal forever,” she said.

“It really was a glorious way to win a game,” said Freeto.

But, at least early on, there was no guarantee this match would land in La Conner’s win column — especially considering Friday Harbor’s distinct home field advantage.

“They scored in the first two minutes of the game,” Freeto pointed out. “We never get a full (pre-match) warm-up there, and we have to run up to the field from the ferry landing. It’s always unsettling.

“There was an unsettled feeling among the entire team,” she added. “We rebounded from the early goal, however, and really did control the flow of the game from that point on. We had the ball on our offensive half for most of the game.”

Despite having captured the NW2B crown with three regular season matches left to play, Freeto sees no let-up in her charges.

“We’ve only had four league goals scored against us, which is our program’s lowest to date,” she explained. “We plan to keep that under five. We also want to finish with a full sweep and undefeated league record — something that’s happened only once before.”

In related notes:

• Lee scored the lone goal as La Conner edged Coupeville 1-0 in a key non-league match last week. “They were an amazing passing team,” Freeto said of the Lady Wolves. “They kept control of the ball almost the entire first half. We were chasing them and the ball for most of it.” La Conner made some halftime adjustments that proved the difference, according to Freeto. “We talked about how to manage them and played a much better second half,” she said. “It was good preparation for our (upcoming) post-season competition.

• The La Conner High football team was idle last Friday as a previously scheduled trip to Wenatchee to face Wilbur-Creston was cancelled. That game was to have filled one of the playing dates that opened up when NW2B rival Darrington opted out of varsity football this season. The Braves are slated to entertain Bellingham this Friday at 7 p.m. La Conner closes with league games at Friday Harbor, Oct. 30, and at home opposite Orcas on Nov. 5.