BACK TO BACK WINS - Colville Girls Soccer Downs Rogers and Omak In Goal-Filled Week

The Colville girls soccer team put together its strongest stretch of the season last week, earning back-to-back victories over Rogers and Omak to even their record at 3-3. The 1A Crimson Hawks opened the two-game run Thursday, Sept. 24, with a dominant 9-1 victory over 2A Rogers, scoring six times in the first half and adding three more goals after the break.

“What has stood out to me the most in the past week’s play has been our ability to keep possession of the ball,” Colville Head Coach Tasha Luu said. “We flipped a switch this week and are able to connect passes to move the ball around any area of the field.” Natalie Housworth and Natana Sloan each scored twice for Colville. Kelsea Lewis, Kailaya Vanderholm, Reagan Giroux, Phoenix Stewart, and Kailani Terry also found the net. Lewis finished with two assists, while Ava Kelley also recorded two.

Housworth and Clarity Sloan each added an assist. Colville finished the Rogers match with 10 shots on goal and six corner kicks, while limiting Rogers to just one shot on goal. “In terms of goals scored, I love that we are able to net the ball from multiple players in every angle of play,” Luu said. “Our goals have come from through balls for 1-vs.-1 scenarios, crosses from both edges of the field, and 25-yard shots. I’m so excited about the versatility of our offense. Our defense gets in- volved in the attack as well.

Having this deep of a team makes it hard on our opponent to predict where we will attack from.” Two days later, the Crimson Hawks turned in a much tighter defensive performance in a 2-0 win over Omak on Saturday, Sept. 26. Sloan gave Colville the lead in the first half, scoring with 30:40 remaining off an assist from Lewis. Terry added another first-half goal to give the Crimson Hawks a 2-0 advantage they carried the rest of the way. Colville finished with eight shots on goal and three corner kicks.

“Our improvement from week to week is the most fun for me as a coach,” Luu said. “The confidence these girls develop is key, when they start understanding the game is when we really see the training translate to games. Our team has put in the work to learn the benefits of truly understanding soccer and that’s showed in our improvement against Rogers. We moved the ball with purpose and that created scoring opportunities all over the field.” Goalkeeper Joslyn Craddock helped preserve the shutout with six saves as Omak also generated six shots on goal and three corner kicks. ““As a coaching staff we are excited and ready to get into league play,” Luu said.

“We have moved a lot of players to various positions and feel that we are ready for league play. We have a very strong back line, a midfield that knows how to control the ball for us, and an attack that is hungry for goals. The depth of our team will help us find success through the rest of the season.