Valiant girls down but not out

Injuries have taken a toll, but VC may yet make a long playoff run

By Miles Vance

The Beaverton Valley Times, Nov 5, 2009

Miles Vance / Beaverton Valley Times

HEAD GAMES — Valley Catholic’s Liz Emery heads the ball away from two Catlin Gabel defenders during the Valiants’ 5-2 Tuesday road loss to the Eagles.

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PORTLAND – Tuesday, simply, was not Valley Catholic’s day.

The Valiant girls soccer team, hampered by injuries and buffeted by Tuesday’s wind and Catlin Gabel, simply did not have it in its District 1 playoff at Catlin Gabel, falling 5-2 in a battle for the league’s top two seeds to state.

The Valiants (12-2-1 overall), second in the District 1 regular season, now move on to the Class 4A/3A/2A/1A state playoffs, where they’ll host Salem’s Blanchet (7-6-1), the third-place finisher from District 4, at 1 p.m. Saturday. The winner of that match will advance to second-round play on Tuesday, facing District 7 champ McLoughlin (7-3-3) at McLoughlin.

That said, Valley Catholic is ready to get past Tuesday’s loss and take on the state playoffs.

“It’s just gluing it back together and coming off those injuries strong,” said senior midfielder and team co-captain Maggie Hastreiter. “We got it out of our system. We got all our little kinks and bad passes out of our system and we can learn from our mistakes and just play better than what we just did.”

“In the two losses, they were obviously better than us on those days — but they’re a beatable side,” said Valley Catholic coach Tudor Flintham. “I would really like to have another bash at them. I would, personally.”

The Valiants played Tuesday without the services of senior forward Megan Gabourel (chipped tibia) and sophomore forward Allie Lambert (concussion) — players responsible for more than 30 goals this season — and clearly missed both.

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