PORT HADLOCK — Coming off a season-opening victory, the East Jefferson girls soccer team knew it had a big challenge coming up going up against the 2024 state runner-up in Bellevue Christian on Tuesday.
Bellevue Christian showed that it hasn’t lost a beat from last year, when the Vikings lost to Cedar Park Christian 2-1, beating East Jefferson 7-1.
“We knew it was going to be a tough one,” said coach Robert Cantley. “It was a decent performance on our part.”
Cantley said the Rivals pushed forward a bit in the second half to try and score, but they also exposed themselves in the defensive end, giving Bellevue Christian chances.
The Rivals did break through with an unassisted goal by Ellie Anderson after a scramble over the loose ball between Anderson and a couple of Bellevue Christian players. The Vikings had 12 shutouts last season and gave up just 10 goals all season, so cracking their defense for a goal is no mean feat.
East Jefferson (1-1) has a tough start to its season with another game Thursday, its third game in four days, against Seattle Christian. Seattle Christian comes in 0-2 to Thursday’s match, which is set for 6 p.m. at Port Townsend Memorial Stadium, not Friday as originally scheduled, but Cantley said the Warriors are always a physical team.
