RIDGEFIELD — A championship defense was put to the test.
An offense that erupted for eight goals days earlier kept pushing.
In the end, 80 minutes of a thrilling non-league girls soccer game between Ridgefield and Skyview on Tuesday weren’t enough to decide a winner.
Ridgefield, the defending Class 2A state champion, came back from two goals down to force a 2-2 draw after Savvy Semlick scored a goal assisted by Tori Lasch following a Nora Martin free kick. That equalizer in the 71st minute, coupled with two late saves from Spudders goalkeeper Tyler Merlock, ensured a stalemate between two teams with lofty expectations for the 2024 season.
“It’s very exciting,” said Martin, a senior center back. “We have pressure on our shoulders for sure (after) winning a state title. I think tonight we were pretty frantic. New faces on the field, first game we’re trying to connect. But overall, myself and a bunch of players were very excited to be back out here.”
Early on, Skyview picked up right where it left off in Saturday’s season-opening, 8-0 win over Mountain View. Just four minutes in, the Storm took advantage of a misplayed Ridgefield clearance that bounced off a player and toward Dea Covarrubias for a goal on an open net.
Then, Skyview’s Lauryn Cornelius converted a penalty kick after Ridgefield was called for a handball in the 16th minute, giving the Storm a 2-0 lead against a Spudders defense that allowed just nine goals last season.
“It’s a learning moment,” Skyview coach Matt Houghton said. “We came out flying (against Mountain View) and then came up against a team that’s equal to us. We learned a lot about ourselves, we put things in perspective and move on. … Super fun playing against these guys, great evening and I think everybody put it out there. One-hundred percent, that’s all we’re looking for.”
Houghton took over as Skyview’s head coach this season intent on making only small changes to a team that came within one win of reaching the 4A state tournament, graduated just two seniors returned all-league players Covarrubias and Mya Ellertson.
A former head coach at Evergreen, Houghton has also coached a handful of Skyview players on the club soccer circuit at FC Salmon Creek.
“I’ve got a familiarity with them and I understand their style, so just tweaking things — that’s all I’m doing,” he said. “So, we’re just taking this and we’re going to build from here on out.”
The Spudders, too, are looking to deliver an encore performance to follow the program’s first state championship they earned last November in a 3-2 win over West Valley (Spokane), a game decided in penalty kicks after Ridgefield twice came back from a one-goal deficit.
They found some of that magic to get back in Tuesday’s game. Ellie Wilson put Ridgefield on the board with a goal assisted by Lasch to get within 2-1 at halftime. After Semlick’s equalizer, Ridgefield’s Marlee Buffham threatened to score the game-winner with a shot on goal saved by Skyview goalkeeper Brynnlee Williams.
“Relentlessness — that’s our word,” Martin said. “(We) praise it. We love it.”
Ridgefield and Skyview settled for a draw, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
