BRUSH PRAIRIE — Malaika Quigley and Savannah Harshbarger felt sentimental knowing it would be their last regular-season home league game.
When the two were honored as a part of Prairie’s senior night recognition before kickoff, the emotions ran high.
The stakes on the field — a league title, with its toughest league opponent standing in the way — only added weight on their shoulders.
Harshbarger scored three minutes into an eventual 2-0 Falcons win over Mountain View on Thursday night. The win clinched a fourth straight 3A Greater St. Helens League, and of the four, the Falcons overcame perhaps its stiffest competitor.
For Harshbarger, Quigley and defender Sydney Weber, their impending goodbyes to the program felt closer than ever.
“We all cried,” Quigley said. “It’s definitely always emotional. Every year we have senior night, people leaving, and now it’s us.”
Both teams entered the night 7-0-1 in league, with the lone tie coming in their first matchup of the season. In that game, which both teams described as very physical, Mountain View’s Olivia Fothergill scored first and Prairie equalized late. Still, the Falcons felt as though they were the better team. The Thunder, too, felt like Prairie threw them off.
The second time around, Prairie was the aggressor.
Harshbarger’s goal came off a direct free kick on the outside right edge of the 18-yard box. She sent it sailing upper-90, past the diving reaches of Mountain View goalkeeper Waverly Iverson, who finished with six saves on the night.
“I was super pumped,” Harshbarger said. “I wanted to start off good and I thought that was a perfect way to start off a game with our confidence.”
It also put the Thunder on their heels.
Fothergill, an Oregon commit and Mountain View’s leading goal scorer, was the Falcons’ defensive focal point. Junior center back Haley Reed zone marked her along with Harshbarger, a defensive center mid.
That combination neutralized the junior — something not many teams this season have been able to do.
“To be able to shut a player of that caliber down, that’s not an easy task,” Prairie coach Michael Thyron said.
Thunder center back Autumn McMahon said Prairie’s defensive was all-around smothering.
“They were really aggressive, always on us,” McMahon said. “I don’t think there was a time where someone got the ball and had enough time to do anything with it.”
Up 1-0, the Falcons nearly added a second goal in the 53rd when sophomore Alyssa Talkington missed wide right on a breakaway that was well challenged by Iverson.
That goal eventually came in the 68th minute, when junior Paige Darley cleaned up a second chance off a corner kick inside the six yard box.
Mountain View plays Kelso for its remaining league game next week and, if it wins and the Falcons lose its final league game to Evergreen, will still be in second. With the win, Prairie now holds a tiebreaker over the Thunder.
“We’ve just got to keep our heads up and look forward,” McMahon said.
As for Prairie’s seniors, they know there’s plenty of soccer left to be played — especially if their plans to play well into the state tournament come to fruition.
But as the school recognized their collective efforts over the last four years, Thursday night’s win meant a little bit more.
“To get that win and win league on it was amazing,” Quigley said.
PRAIRIE 2, MOUNTAIN VIEW 0
Mountain View
Goalkeeper saves — Waverly Iverson 6. Coach’s standout — Alexis Sadler, Autumn McMahon.
Prairie
Goals (assists) — Savannah Harshbarger (unassisted), Paige Darley (unassisted); Goalkeeper saves — Alli Corral 3. Coach’s standout — Savannah Harshbarger, Paige Darley.
Halftime — 1-0
JV — Prairie 5-0
