Yellow Pages
SUMNER — La Conner girls’ soccer star Megan Raymond had to settle for a few minutes of action in her final soccer high school soccer game Saturday and her team had to settle for a fourth-place trophy in its first ever trip to the Class 2B/1B state tournament.
The Braves fell behind by three goals early against a Seattle Lutheran team they had beaten twice and went on to lose 6-2 in the consolation final.
“We were flat,” Braves coach Amy Freeto said. “We found out when got here that (Megan) wasn’t going to get the clearance to play and that kind of deflated everyone.”
Raymond, a four-year starting midfielder, suffered a concussion late in Friday’s 2-1 semifinal shootout loss. Freeto said after consulting with the medical staff Friday they decided to wait until after Saturday’s game to take her to the hospital, but that she had to be woken up several times during the night as a precaution.
She did play for the final six minutes after getting permission from medical staff, Freeto said.
“It was hard not having her out there,” junior Sydney Hartwick said. “You realize how much we’re going to miss her next year. It was hard not to look up and see her there. It was nice she got in for a few minutes.”
Hartwick and Bailey Cunningham scored back-to-back goals to cut a four-goal deficit in half just before the break, but that was the closest the Braves got. Cunningham’s goal, her first as a varsity player, came on a putback after the Seattle Lutheran goalie deflected a Hartwick corner kick to her.
The La Conner girls had no answer defensively for the Saints’ duo of Ashley Shaw and Kendra Rancich up front.
There wasn’t much the Braves could do as Shaw opened the scoring in the sixth minute.
The sophomore midfielder curled a corner kick perfectly into the goal. Braves’ goalkeeper Kelly Gilkey leaped and got fingertips on the shot, but not enough to stop it.
Then it was Rancich’s turn a minute later, taking a breakaway and poking it home as Gilkey came out to challenge.
In the 18th, Rancich set up Shaw with a nice weave through several defenders, finding Shaw wide open in the middle for the third score.
“They’re very good,” Freeto said. “At full strength, we have a way to contain them, but we just didn’t have that today. They move the ball well.”
An own goal, a deflection on a scramble for a ball in front of the goal, accounted for the fourth score.
Shaw completed the hat trick in the second half by lofting a ball over Gilkey. Rancich added a second goal of her own in the second half as well.
The fourth-place trophy is the highest ever for a Braves’ soccer team, which finished the season at 12-6.
“It was really an amazing year for us,” Cunningham said.
“We had a great year,” Freeto added. “Beating La Salle (in the quarterfinals), I think everyone in the tournament should thank us for that. It’s a cliché to say we’re happy to be here, but we are.”
• Eric Francis can be reached at 360-416-2131 or .
