The Snohomish girls soccer program welcomed head coach Brielle Dodge four years ago and has been solid since. After a state berth in her first season and some middle-of-the-pack finishes in a large Wesco 3A field, Dodge changed her approach before the 2024 season.
She started having frank conversations with her players about individual improvement and competing mentally by addressing challenges like “imposter syndrome” — a lingering feeling of not belonging in competitive spaces. Dodge has also taught her players how to bounce back quickly in a nonstop sport like soccer. She’s employed methods like snap-back routines — physical movements that players can do to recover mentally in a pinch — helping alleviate the pressure to perform in big spots. Players have also been encouraged to journal as part of a holistic coaching style.
Since that shift, the Panthers took home the first Wesco 3A/2A North title after realignment in 2024 and are off to an 8-0 league start (11-2-1 overall) this season as part of an 11-game unbeaten streak in which Snohomish has forced 10 straight shutouts. To put their league run in perspective, the Panthers are outscoring opponents 35-0, and their non-league losses have come against defending 4A state champion Lake Stevens and a strong Bothell side on the road.
But Snohomish’s last non-league game was as important as any league fixture could be.
The Panthers hosted Snohomish School District-rival Glacier Peak on Oct. 14 in their now-annual “Kick for the Cure” game, donning pink uniforms as a nod to October being Breast Cancer Awareness month. Dodge used to work in the marketing department at Providence Health and helped institute a game each season where the team aimed to raise money for cancer research with the organization by selling concessions and collecting donations. The team raised over $1,000 for the Providence General Foundation Cancer Fund at the most recent fixture, as Dodge pledged to donate $100 for every goal as well in a 4-0 win. The booster club is still taking donations for the cause at @SHS_Girls_Soccer_Booster on Venmo.
Hailey Kendall (left) and Megan Kendall (right) pose for a photo ahead of the 2024 Kick for the Cure game at Snohomish High School in Snohomish. (Photo courtesy of Megan Kendall)
The event has taken on a new meaning recently, as senior defender Hailey Kendall and sophomore midfielder Kennedy Perasso have each seen their parents come into bouts with cancer. Hailey’s mother, Megan, 44, was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2024 after she discovered a lump.
Perasso’s mother, Katie, and father, Brandon, were both diagnosed in late 2024 as well, as Katie, 43, was diagnosed with melanoma after discovering an irregularity on her leg during last year’s soccer season. She has undergone procedures and treatment that have the family confident in her recovery a year later, with a scan upcoming. Brandon, 43, was diagnosed with bile duct cancer, a rare condition, which was discovered through a CT scan that showed a mass on his liver. Brandon’s treatment continues as he still makes it out to many of Kennedy’s games.
In the Kick for the Cure game, he and Katie walked Kennedy onto the field and watched their daughter do something she’s made a habit of this season — bury a free kick goal from midfield. It was the third time she’s made a long-range shot like that this season off a set piece.
Kennedy simply noticed that the keeper was too far off her line and took a chance by putting the ball into the box. But for Dodge, who has empowered her players to take more long-range shots this season, it was an unforgettable moment.
“For her to get that goal for that game, it just was amazing,” Dodge said. “(It) brought tears to my eyes, chills to my arms, all of us as a coaching staff, we just know what the family has been through.”
For Kennedy, soccer has been an opportunity to focus on something other than what has been a trying year for her family.
“Playing soccer helps me not think about it,” Kennedy said, as finding out about her parents’ conditions took a toll on her, especially in the early going. “I don’t really talk about it.”
Kennedy also plays club soccer, basketball and participates in track, so the family has had no shortage of sporting events to attend this past year. Katie recalled a time during the basketball season when Brandon had a seven-hour infusion, but was able to go directly to a Snohomish basketball game to support Kennedy.
“We get a lot of joy watching our kids do what they like,” Katie said. “That was kind of a lifeline for us to have something to look forward to.”
Outside of sports, having the community that comes with being a part of a team culture has given both families a boost.
All three parents have traveled to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center for appointments in the past year, and seeing a familiar face of another parent in the waiting room dealing with similar challenges has been heartening. Katie and Megan are both members of the Snohomish booster club as well.
“Especially at the beginning of this for Brandon, not that you want someone else to wallow in your misery, but it’s nice to know that someone understands the complex emotions that come with (cancer),” Katie said, recalling seeing Megan before going in for an appointment. “It’s nice to see them and sit by them in the stands, because they’re not going to say like, ‘Hey, how’re you feeling,’ every time we see them … It’s just someone who’s going to sit there and let us watch soccer.”
Last season, the team rallied around Hailey, writing her mom’s name on their legs for that edition of Kick for the Cure. In all the uncertainty, a small gesture like that made a real difference for the senior.
“The overwhelming support from my teammates, and extra love that day for me from everyone, it was really awesome,” Hailey said.
This year, Megan’s battle with a now-metastasized cancer continues with oral chemotherapy, but soccer has been a constant in her family’s life — Hailey’s father, T.J., and her older sister, Ava, both played the sport.
“It’s a part of life we’ve always known and kind of relied on for consistency,” Megan said. “It’s been so wonderful to see not only the girls come together, but the families of these awesome soccer players.”
For Hailey, the team has been a support system for her entire time at Snohomish. Now a senior, Hailey recalled tearing her ACL in her sophomore season and working through it with the help of her teammates.
“That was really hard for me, but my team definitely rallied around me and yeah, I don’t think I could have gone through it without them for sure,” Hailey said.
That culture of caring isn’t a coincidence, as many of the players spent time playing youth soccer together before high school. Dodge has focused on turning that “family” aspect, as Kennedy called it, into a strength. Dodge attributed reading a coaching book, “Every Moment Matters” by John O’Sullivan, to her approach in pushing her players to “play for a higher purpose.”
That idea factored into having family members impacted by cancer run onto the field with the players ahead of the Kick for the Cure game, and her decision to donate her own money for every goal scored in the game.
On the pitch, the Panthers are still locked into bringing home the league title with a crucial road game against a surging second-place Monroe on Thursday.
Kennedy has confidence in her team’s elite defense, which has come a long way to allow just six goals in 13 games. The District 1 3A tournament is set to begin on Oct. 30 as the Panthers march toward what they hope is their first state appearance since 2022. Hailey is liking what she’s seeing from her team as it gets set to take on a stacked postseason field.
“We’re ready for it.”
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