HILLSBORO – Entering its last game of the season Saturday night, it was clear that Jesuit's girls soccer team deserved to be considered among the best in the program's storied history.
But the Crusaders had one more important entry to add to their resume – a win over West Linn in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 6A final at Hillsboro Stadium.
Top-seeded Jesuit (19-0-1) checked that box by pulling away in the second half for a 4-1 win over the No. 2 Lions (15-2-2), giving the Crusaders their second consecutive title and 17th overall, tying them with Catlin Gabel for the most in state history. They are 17-2 in state finals, winning their last nine.
Junior Natalie Webber scored two goals and junior Lucy Thomas and sophomore Eva Hairston added single tallies for Jesuit, ranked fourth in the nation by United Soccer Coaches.
“We have a lot of attacking threats, a lot of pace in the team,” coach Steve Fennah said. “We saw that spread around with the goals tonight. This has been a really cool group of kids to coach. There's a camaraderie that's really hard to beat. And on the field, they played some wonderful skilled football at times.”
The Crusaders outscored their opponents 113-9 for the season. Their record would have been spotless if not for a 0-0 tie with Grant.
“This is the most consistent season we've ever had,” Thomas said. “We just kept talking about sisterhood and family, and I think we really showed that this season. We all came together.”
Webber, who finished the season with a team-high 32 goals, was the catalyst for an offense that seemingly could strike from anywhere at any time.
“This by far is the best team I've played on,” Webber said. “Especially the seniors on this team, it's such a special group. I'm so grateful for all of them. They are my family.”
Webber scored Jesuit's first goal 48 seconds into the match, but it didn't seem to faze the Lions, who were hungry to avenge a 1-0 loss to the Crusaders in last year's semifinals.
West Linn junior Ellis Highland punched the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal off a scramble in the 27th minute to make it 1-1, a score that stuck into halftime.
“We did drop off after we scored, and they got some headway, and we were really under pressure that later part of the first half,” Fennah said. “We lost our way. We weren't pressing, we weren't winning balls, we weren't connecting with our passing, all of which are aspects of the team's DNA. That's all we did at halftime was remind them of that.”
It seemed to work as the Crusaders controlled much of the second half. Webber and Thomas converted assists by senior Ana Kubiaczyk in the 55th and 59th minutes, respectively, opening a 3-1 lead.
West Linn nearly closed the gap in the 65th minute when senior Kylee Schreck had a good look at the goal from about 10 yards out, but her shot missed wide. Hairston put the match out of reach in the 71st minute when she bombed in a 30-yard shot from the left angle, extending the edge to 4-1.
The second-half performance illustrated once again that when the Crusaders were threatened this season, they responded.
“Definitely scoring so early, it was good, but it sets a little bit of worry in because there's so much time left,” Webber said.”I think them getting that goal kind of woke us up. It was what we needed
“First half, we were really jittery and it was affecting our performance. Then I think that goal kind of got us going. It was kind of like we knew we needed to get it done. Ultimately, I think it helped us get the win.”
Thomas said it was a matter of focus and effort.
“We weren't getting to some 50-50s quick enough,” Thomas said. “I think in the second half we knew it was going to take more, we were going to need to push more. And I think we did that.”
The Lions were hopeful to knock off Jesuit, which beat them 5-0 in their only other finals appearance in 2022. But they couldn't match the Crusaders' push in the second half.
“The first half, we came out a bit startled at first and we settled and we started playing our game,” Highland said. “We were connecting and we were doing what we knew. In the second half, we were giving it our all. After those couple goals, things started to drop a little.
“It was a lot of pressure for everyone, especially with the massive stadium and all the fans, and it being the state championship. But I'm proud of my team and how far we came.”
jerryu@osaa.org
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