The girls varsity soccer team lost the quarterfinal game of the state championship to Seton Catholic on Nov. 15, following a successful but hard-fought postseason.
On Oct. 28, the Pumas entered the postseason playoffs with a game against Eastside Prep, which they lost 3-0.
“That game we just didn’t bring the energy, and we were a little bit slow and hesitant, so we just let the other team have the ball, and play their style.” ninth grader Scout Lincoln said.
The team had a rocky start to the playoffs, and they fell into the loser’s bracket; however, their second match against the King’s, a 9-1 win, renewed their confidence.
“That game was definitely one of our better games, and we all brought a lot of energy,” Lincoln said.
The team played Bush next, and tensions were high.
“I think our biggest rival is Bush, we’re always very competitive,” sophomore Emily Perham said. “We beat them in our district tournament, and that was really awesome.”
The final score was 1-0, and with a win, UPrep was set to play against Eastside Prep one more time, in a definitive game for championship qualifications.
“We knew exactly what we needed to do because we’d already played them,” Lincoln said.
The team knew that Eastside Prep would be aggressive, rushing up to boot the ball forwards, so the key to breaking down their defense would be getting a good pass around them.
UPrep won 4-1 and entered into the State Championship.
“Even to get out of our league was extremely difficult, we have a very strong league compared to other leagues in the State”, head coach Nikki Harris said.
The Pumas had a smooth start to the championships, winning 3-0 against Klahowya on Nov. 12.
“I think that we remember that this team is beatable, but we also remembered that we shouldn’t underestimate them,” Lincoln said.
On Nov. 15 in the quarterfinals, the team lost to Seton Catholic 1-0, ending their postseason championship.
“The drive was really long, so we were just so tired at the end of it, and we weren’t in our heads, so we didn’t play as hard,” Lincoln said.
“It was an aggressive game, they had a free kick in it, and it didn’t go our way,” Perham said.
Lincoln feels the game could have gone differently.
“For the Seton Catholic game, if I could just snap my fingers and redo it, I think we would 100% win. We knew we were the better team, we just couldn’t pull it off,” Lincoln said.
More on the struggles which the team faced this year:
This postseason run compared to past years:
