TACOMA – Capturing the program’s first state championship last year left the Ridgefield girls soccer team a thankless task of trying to follow the feat this fall.
In the end, two teams facing different sets of obstacles, players young and old coming together to mesh and forge an identity found the same result at the finish of a long journey.
The Spudders are back-to-back Class 2A state champions, and the second one is just as sweet.
No. 1 seed Ridgefield secured a 1-0 win over No. 3 seed Columbia River, its 2A Greater St. Helens League rival, in the 2A state title game Saturday night at Mount Tahoma High School to add another championship trophy in its case. Ridgefield finished the season with 22-1-1.
“Oh my gosh, it’s a crazy accomplishment, especially to accomplish it two years in a row,” Ridgefield senior Marlee Buffham said. “We’re all so happy to be here. We love each other. It’s always a challenge, and I think we love to be challenged.”
In Columbia River, the 2022 state champion, the Spudders’ challenge was playing a familiar team they had seen three times already this season.
They won two of three meetings while suffering their only loss of the season back in September.
“Hard to gameplan, because they know us and we know them so well,” Ridgefield coach Steven Evans said. “You never know what’s going to happen, but we do our best to play our game, and that’s kind of been our style all year. We don’t really change much for most teams.”
Those two Ridgefield wins, however, including the most recent in the district championship game two weeks ago on River’s home field, gave Ridgefield added confidence on the biggest stage. That, and the fact that the Spudders were in this same position last year.
“All day we were prepping for it, we were ready (and) we had a lot of confidence coming in,” Ridgefield senior Nora Martin said. “We’ve been here before, and so have they. But they didn’t win last year, so we had that on our shoulder as well.”
The difference-making goal came just 10 minutes into the game when Buffham delivered a cross toward Tori Lasch that bounced into Columbia River’s net for an own goal.
The result stood for the remaining 70 minutes plus stoppage time, as the Spudders turned to their brick wall of a defense that didn’t give up a single goal during four state playoff games. The Spudders outscored opponents 13-0 over that stretch.
Columbia River’s two best scoring chances in the second half came on mishandled clearances near Ridgefield’s penalty area. In both instances, Ridgefield goalkeeper Opal Ruddy rushed in to kick the ball out, including the 78th minute when Columbia River’s Peyton Dukes and Makayla Hundt made a run at the ball.
The latter play allowed the Spudders to hold possession for much of the final few minutes until the final whistle sounded and players ran to each other and fell into a dogpile on the turf field.
“This is just a storybook ending, for sure,” Ridgefield senior Baylee Bushnell said. “Ending our senior year against this team just is so amazing. I’m just so grateful to come out on top.”
Asking Ridgefield players and coaches to compare the two experiences — the thrill of winning a penalty kick shootout over West Valley last year, and the satisfaction of beating rival Columbia River — yields different answers.
“They were both equally difficult, but in their own ways,” Martin said. “Today we had a different group of girls and it’s been a really hard season from the bottom up. Even though we were ranked number one, still we had a lot to prove and a lot on our back.”
“They’re both a huge win for us,” Bushnell added. “Just coming out here and being able to compete against the best, like, this is the best, this stage. … It never gets easier, it’s always the same. It’s the same competition every year.”
One thing is for certain — the Spudders are now well-acquainted with that state-championship winning feeling. For Ridgefield’s nine seniors, it’s a feeling they’ll end their high school careers on.
Back-to-back.
“It’s pretty bittersweet, but pretty exciting,” Buffham said. “There’s no better way to end my senior year.”
