Mavs take fourth at state 3A girls soccer tourney

Published 7:28 pm Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The final weekend of the 2011 season didn’t quite turn out the way Meadowdale hoped it would.

The Mavericks returned home with a fourth-place trophy after back-to-back losses to eventual state champion Seattle Prep and Eastside Catholic at the Class 3A state girls soccer tournament at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.

“We were sad and disappointed we lost,” said senior forward Alisa Sagdahl. “At the same time, we weren’t even ranked at the start of the season. Of course we wanted to go farther. But it ended up the way it did.”

The fourth place finish was the best showing for Meadowdale since 1981, the year the school won a 4A state title. Meadowdale had not placed in its 12 appearances at state since 1981.

Meadowdale lost 2-1 to Seattle Prep in a semifinal game on Nov. 18 and then fell 1-0 to Eastside Catholic in the third-fourth place game on Nov. 19.

“Just to be at state is really important for the team,” said first-year head coach Wade Foley. “The girls will take a lot from it. There are more positives than negatives. It was a long road.”

Just before the start of the third-fourth place game, Foley asked if the players knew what day it was.

The start of practices in August seemed a long time ago for Foley.

“To be there playing on that day was a tribute to the nature of how tough these girls are,” Foley said.

Foley admitted that he might have had some fleeting thoughts of Meadowdale being among the final four teams at state in late August.

“It probably was in the back of my mind,” he said. “As we got further along, the idea grew much bigger.”

A tough physical game against Seattle Prep on Friday took its toll on the Mavericks. Senior defender Alexa Thompson did not play against Eastside Catholic due to an injury and Sagdahl was at less than 100 percent though she did play.

“Those are two seniors. That leadership is really important to have out there,” Foley said.

The Mavericks had only three seniors on the roster but the younger players were ready to handle the pressure.

“Even though we’re a young team, for a lot of these girls, they’ve seen it before on their select teams,” Foley said. “There was a lot of confidence going in. You get down to these final games. They’re battles. … Going in we had the expectation we would beat Prep to get into the finals.”

Sagdahl credited the players’ closeness on and off the field for the team’s success.

“We hung out of school. We were just all together,” Sagdahl said. “We were a close team.”

Foley told his players to treasure the memories of the season and especially of advancing to the state semifinals.

“You don’t get these opportunities very often,” Foley said. “They should take pride that all their hard work paid off.”

Foley added that he hopes that the returning players take note of how much time it takes in order to get the results that they desire.

As for next year’s team, Sagdahl expects Meadowdale to be just as good if not better.

“I see them going as far as we did and even farther next year,” said Sagdahl, who was the team’s leading scorer with 25 goals.

Sophomore Emily Crichlow, who was second on the team with 16 goals, will be back, and Foley noted that he had three forwards playing defense this season.

“(The offense) will be different next year. I think we’ll be as potent,” Foley said. “We’re going to have to address and figure out the defense. There are girls playing defense that can play up top.”

The younger players also will be a year older and Foley also expects some talent from the junior varsity team will move up.

“I’m excited,” he said. “The future is really bright.”

But as far as the present is concerned, Foley definitely has fond memories of the 2011 squad.

“The biggest thing I’m going to remember is how great they are as people aside from being good soccer players,” he said. “They showed up every day worked hard and had a great attitude.”