By Morris Malakoff
Herald Writer
LYNNWOOD – It sure wasn’t the White River Hornets that were swarming Tuesday at Lynnwood High School.
The only stinging going on was from the foot of Meadowdale’s Kelsey Larson, who scored three goals as the Mavericks ousted the Hornets in the first round of the 3A girls soccer state tournament by a 4-0 score.
Maverick head coach Mike Bartley attributed a pre-game adjustment to Larson’s role and a post-season honor for her aggressive play.
“We had a coaches meeting last night and we voted her (Larson) Wesco all-league forward,” said Bartley, in his fifth year as head coach at the Lynnwood school. “I told her that because of that she would play that position all game.”
With the success of the move, Bartley plans to keep Larson up front the rest of the tournament.
Larson usually splits her playing time between defense and forward.
Larson scored the first goal and eventual game-winner about 25 minutes into the game as she fired from a steep angle to the left of Hornet goalkeeper Tiffany Hiam from near the sideline, leaving Hiam scrambling on the ground as the ball rolled past and into the net.
Ten minutes later, Kate Nelson launched a rocket from 25 yards that glanced off the palms of the hands of Hiam and into the back of the net giving the Mavericks a 2-0 halftime lead.
Thirty minutes into the second half, with Bartley pushing his players hard for a third goal to put the game away, Larson took a Melissa Alunni pass 15 yards in front of the goalmouth and knocked home her second goal of the night.
Larson finished off her hat trick with a penalty kick in the closing moments of the game.
The win marks the first time Meadowdale has advanced beyond the first round in five years of making it to the postseason and assures the Mavericks of a quarterfinal match at Lynnwood High School against Tuesday’s Lakeside-Fort Vancouver winner.
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