SHORELINE — The Chieftains ended their season the same way they started the postseason more than two weeks ago: not conceding a goal.
Seven games later later and outscoring opponents 13-0, River ended its season with a win 1-0 win in Saturday’s third-place game at Shoreline Stadium.
Shalece Easley’s goal in the 56th minute, firing a shot from 15 yards out to the far post broke the scoreless tie against Burlington-Edison.
Senior defender Julia Skimas said the shutout streak, which started with a opening-round district win over W.F. West, 5-0 on Oct. 27, goes beyond the backline doing its job.
“The forwards, midfielders working their butt off to press the ball higher up the field,’ she said. “That says a lot about our team growing. … We’re a different team because of it and it’s cool to see.”
Added senior Ava Greer: This shows just how much asa team we’ve grown together, and learn how to help each other to ultimately reach the goal.”
Friday’s semifinal went down as a 1-0 loss for Columbia River to Sehome of Bellingham, but for 80 regulation minutes and two golden-goal overtimes, River failed to allow a goal. The game was decided in penalty kicks, 4-2.
While they hoped to face Liberty, which won its second straight state title Saturday, to have the chance to end their season on a win is pretty good, too.
River earns its third consecutive state trophy since dropping down from Class 3A.
“Just because we didn’t get first place,” said Easley, a junior, “doesn’t mean we’re a bad team. We’re a good team and we know how to work hard. This was an amazing opportunity for our seniors for their senior year.”
