Girls soccer takes the win against Shorecrest to be top in state
On Nov. 18, 2023, the girls soccer team won the 3A state title for the first time in the school’s history. The team played more games than any other team to reach the state final, after coming into the tournament as the 14th seed out of 16.
This win is not only the first girls soccer state title for the team, but also a first for any Seattle Public Schools team.
The championship comes after a loss in last year’s state final against their rivals, Seattle Prep. Despite back to back state final appearances, the team this year was not expected to make it to the state finals, or even state.
The journey to state was not easy, and the team had a lot of ups and downs throughout the season. Malia Kelley ’26, center back, said “I feel like it’s really hard, because this season, after having last season and finishing second we had a lot to live up to, but I feel like no one on the team expected us to win.”
From the beginning of the season, the entire organization had to endure changes. Luke Isler, who was assistant coach for three years prior, was named the head coach at the end of last year’s season. This also came with major changes in the squad.
Along with the change of coaches, the team felt the absence of graduated seniors. Abby Williams ’24, co-captain and goalie, said, “Last year we had a lot of really good individual players, we had a lot of players committing to colleges for soccer. This year we didn’t have a single commit so we really relied on one another … I think that was a big thing going into playoffs as we just had to rely on each other and trust one another because no one person was going to win us the game, we really had to rely on all 23 of us going into the games.”
Going into the season, it was important that the team had good chemistry. Williams, along with co-captain Nora Synder ’24, organized team bonding outside of practices to connect the team. “Seeing each other six days a week only on the soccer field is really hard so me and our other captain, Nora, really tried to create a team community and social setting outside the soccer field. We did a lot of team dinners and team lunches,” said Williams.
Despite a healthy start to the season, the team suffered a mid-season slump. Isler said, “I didn’t know how people would react, me coming in from an assistant coach. I had to gauge the feeling of the players initially … then we had that mid-season dip which I attribute to me over-coaching, and difficult opponents.”
Those initial losses triggered a reaction from both the coach and the players. “The first games we played weren’t against the easiest opponents and we were having lots of fun. So when we lost those first couple games I thought I needed to tighten it up. That’s when things went downhill in a negative way,” said Isler.
While the team was out of form, changes were implemented. Isler said, “The key that really sparked everything back was the captains calling a mandatory team meeting. Some internal strife was brought up and discussed among the team, from there captains relayed some feedback to me. I trusted the captain’s feedback and implemented it into my way of coaching. I realized I was doing too much, these are excellent players, all of them. I had to let the players play their way.”
The team was eventually able to turn it around. Due to Roosevelt’s 5-5-3 record in the league, they had to play additional games in order to qualify for the Metro tournament. From there they qualified for the state tournament. After winning six loser-out games, the team was crowned champions for 3A state, ending with a final 15-7-3 record.
Dara Lauzen ’26 described the feeling after the win, “When we won state? That was the best feeling ever. The semi-finals were just as fun too because it was Seattle Prep, but winning state didn’t feel real.”
