Oregon high school girls soccer semifinals: Cleveland, Grant to meet in 1st all-PIL final; vote for Tuesday's top star
The Oregon high school girls soccer playoffs continued Tuesday with state semifinal matches in all classifications. Here are some of the highlights and top performers.
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CLASS 6A
Until this season, the furthest the Cleveland girls soccer team had advanced in the OSAA Class 6A state playoffs was the quarterfinals.
But Tuesday night at Cleveland Stadium, the Warriors secured their first trip to the championship match by ousting 2022 finalist West Linn 3-0.
The victory extended their unbeaten streak to 17 since a 9-1 loss to Jesuit in the opening week of the season.
“My sister (Rylee) played for Cleveland and was on the first team that made it to the quarters,” said junior striker Lola Pierce. “So, to be able to continue her legacy, it just feels really good.”
When the Warriors (15-1-3) take the pitch at Sherwood High School on Saturday to face Grant in the first all-PIL girls soccer state final, it’ll mark only the third time in school history that a Cleveland team will play for a title in any team sport.
The baseball team reached the 1967 Class A title game, falling 2-0 to North Salem, and the boys soccer team fell to Glencoe 2-1 in the 2007 Class 5A final.
“We weren’t feeling pressure from that itself,” said senior midfielder Elsie Koehler, who converted a 24th-minute penalty to open the scoring. “We just wanted to make our school proud and just go all the way. Just win it.”
Pierce made it 2-0 less than three minutes later, taking a short through ball from Mason Bregoli on the left side of the penalty area and beating Nyamma Nelson far post.
“After the first goal, you never know if, like, you should park the bus and sit back or try to get another one with a team as good as West Linn,” Pierce said. “So, getting that second goal secured our nerves, so the rest of the game, we don’t play frantically.”
Nelson made several key saves in the final 10 minutes to keep the Lions (13-3-2) in the match. Junior Emma Bass put the game away with 3:05 left, deflecting a cross from the left wing with her hip to the near post, wrong-footing the keeper.
“This group has been creating a great team culture for the last three years, and we have some awesome seniors that have kept it going,” coach Doug Diller said. “All the girls were confidently calm and collected but excited to play. They felt confident in what they could do, and they’ve settled down each half of soccer since we’ve gotten into the playoffs.
“Each half has collectively gotten better, and I think they’ve realized that and just kept going, knowing we can keep doing this.”
Grant 3, Lincoln 1
Abbie Day’s second goal of the game from 25 yards broke a 1-1 tie, and Kate Ratanaproeksa tacked on an insurance goal with 15 minutes remaining to seal the victory for the 2021 state champion Generals (16-2-1).
Coach Manolis Tjuanakis, who led the program to its first state title two years ago, described this playoff run as “very special because we lost 13 seniors last year, so it’s basically a new team. And for them to come together so quickly and be so competitive, it has been a pleasure to watch.”
Day scored 90 seconds into the game off an assist from Ratanapoeksa to get Grant off to a flying start.
Kennedy Fletcher equalized for Lincoln (15-3-1) nine minutes into the second half, heading home a corner kick.
CLASS 5A
Wilsonville 4, La Salle Prep 1
Bri Crane and Cameron Schaan each had two goals and an assist, and the top-seeded Wildcats (15-2) earned the chance to become the first 5A girls team to record a three-peat since Summit won four in a row from 2012-15.
Tegan Waters and Kenley Whitaker also had assists for Wilsonville.
North Eugene 4, Caldera 0
Hannah Smyth scored off a free kick with 12 minutes remaining, and Zari Thomas and Kendal Priaulx scored within a minute of each other as the third-seeded Highlanders (14-2-1) pulled away from a 1-0 halftime lead to reach the second final in school history.
Payton Buschelman’s 16th-minute goal opened the scoring for North Eugene, which also played for the title in 2017, losing to Summit that year.
Brianna Sullivan recorded her 11th shutout of the season.
CLASS 4A
Marist Catholic 1, Hidden Valley 0
The top-seeded Spartans (17-0-1) won a taut rematch with the Mustangs of last year’s state final, with Cloe Chase scoring her 52nd goal of the season eight minutes into the second half off a pass from Libby McLaughlin to earn the chance to defend their title Saturday at Liberty High School in Hillsboro.
Chase has 118 career goals, moving her to sole possession of fifth place on the all-time state list. She is three behind Callan Harrington on the state single-season list. McLaughlin’s 28th assist has her No. 2 on the state single-season list.
“I am super proud of this team, who showed grit, determination and fight to win and totally dominate their last home game of the season,” said coach Stefan Schroffner, whose team reached its fourth final in the past five years.
Marist Catholic will face North Marion in the final. The teams met in Aurora on Sept. 12, with the Spartans pulling out a 2-1 win.
“They are good, technical team and well-coached,” Schroffner said. “I’m not surprised they are through to the final.”
North Marion 3, Scappoose 1
Bethany Dunn opened the scoring by knocking in a rebound of Calie Lader’s saved shot in the 28th minute, and Vicky Valenzuela and Izzy Doubrava scored 10 minutes apart in the second half as the third-seeded Huskies (14-3) built a 3-0 lead and advanced to the first OSAA final in program history.
Lader and Fia Swanson had the assists on the second-half goals. Alice Davidson scored on a free kick in the 61st minute for Scappoose (15-2), but that was the only shot to beat Kira Bonser, who made seven saves in the win.
CLASS 3A/2A/1A
Catlin Gabel 6, Amity 1
Addi Dauler had two goals and three assists, and Campbell Swaim added a goal and two assists to lift the second-seeded Eagles (15-1-2) past No. 3 Amity (16-2-1) and to their eighth consecutive state final and 24th overall.
“A tougher game than the scoreline shows,” coach Chris Dorough said. “It took a lot to overcome an athletic and competitive Amity team. A really nice defensive performance since we were under a lot of pressure at times.”
Annika Sirtori opened the scoring for Catlin Gabel in the 32nd minute. Ella Bulkley and Alana Hill also scored for the Eagles, and Holland Swan made four saves.
The Eagles will face top-seeded Valley Catholic (16-0), a 4-1 winner over Sisters (16-2) in the other semifinal, in a rematch of last year’s state championship match won by the Valiants 4-1 in overtime.
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