Archbishop Murphy battled the weather and Cascade Conference rival South Whidbey to claim a berth in the Class 2A state girls soccer tournament.
Drea Gaitan and Emma Nelson each scored a goal to lead the Wildcats to a 2-0 victory over the Falcons in a winner-to-state/loser-out game Nov. 4 at Mount Vernon High School.
The victory sent Archbishop Murphy into a first-round state game against Hockinson on Wednesday night, the results of which were not available for this edition of The Enterprise.
The Wildcats played into the wind in the first half, but Gaitan was still able to score on a header off an assist by Sam Pettinger at the 9-minute mark.
The wind was so strong that the only way Archbishop Murphy was able to move the ball was by keeping it on the ground.
“We couldn’t do any in the air passes,” Archbishop Murphy head coach Pat Jack said. “It was so windy that the ball was blowing back over their heads when they kicked it forward.”
Nelson added an insurance goal at the 45-minute mark off an assist from Melissa VonderHofen.
This was Archbishop Murphy’s third victory over South Whidbey. The Wildcats dictated most of the action, finishing with a 21-8 edge in shots.
Archbishop Murphy lost only one game in the tournament and heads into state feeling confident.
“The girls are relaxed,” Jack said. “They seem to be as good as they can get. Hopefully, we haven’t peaked yet. Certainly we’re almost there. If everybody is on, I think we should do fine.”
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