The Redmond High girls’ soccer team succumbed to red-hot Eastlake, 4-0, at Eastlake High School on Tuesday night in the final regualar-season 4A Kingco matchup.
The Mustangs hit the ground running, as the visiting green and gold had several early shots on goal, but were unable to score, as Eastlake junior goalkeeper Kate Zopolos was kept busy.
The high-octane Wolves’ offense overcame their sluggish start and picked up steam towards the end of the first half, sparked by a goal by Eastlake senior midfielder Lindsay Elston off a feed by Courtney Pixler.
Elston’s kick was launched into the upper right corner of the net, just out of reach of a leaping Jessica Larson.
The Wolves, who have won eight of their last nine games, really turned up the heat after their initial score and ended up with 11 shots on goal in the first half, most of which came in the final 12 minutes.
That momentum carried over into the second half, as sophomore Emily Cushing, senior Candice Osei-Agyemang and Elston each scored in succession about five minutes apart to put the game away.
“It was a good start, but (Eastlake) is a great team, they were fun to watch,” remarked Redmond head coach Patrick Scheibe. “It would have been an interesting match if we got one of the first ones to go in, it didn’t happen, and they kinda rode the wave of their Senior night and had a good match.”
With the loss, Redmond dropped to 5-4-2 in league and 7-5-2 overall and finished with 17 points, good for fifth place in 4A Kingco. Eastlake improved to 9-2-0, 11-4-1 and finished tied for second place in the league with Skyline.
PLAYOFF POTENTIAL
Despite finishing their league schedule on a sour note, the slate is wiped clean come Saturday afternoon when the Mustangs play in a loser-out rematch against the Woodinville Falcons in the opening round of the 4A Kingco tournament. The match will be at 3 p.m. on Halloween at a location to be determined.
During the two teams’ earlier meeting on Oct. 6, Redmond allowed two goals early and lost 2-1. The Mustangs have learned from their mistakes, however, and eagerly anticipate a second chance against the Falcons.
“We created a lot of good chances in the Woodinville game, so one of the things will be tying up our defense… we gave them some long shots that they ended up scoring on,” Scheibe said. “Our emphasis on the game against them will be to close down early and try and deny those opportunities.”
The Mustangs have nine rostered seniors, three of which are four-year varsity players, and Scheibe would love nothing more than to make a deep run in the postseason with his group of “great gals.”
“What I am really proud of with these girls is how they’ve carried on the tradition,” he said. “They’ve instilled in the younger girls what it means to play for Redmond High School and the pride in being a Mustang… they made it a great year, just so much fun.”
