HILLSBORO – Hard work.
Cohesiveness. Dedication. Constant improvement.
Striving to be the best.
The Marist Catholic girls soccer team put all of that together and the result was a heck of a 2024 season – capped off by a state championship.
The Spartans, striking hard from the start and excelling in a big way at both ends of the field, turned in a very impressive performance in scoring a 5-0 win over La Grande in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 4A final, played on the rain-soaked turf at Liberty High School.
“I think it means a lot. It’s my first year with this team, and I think we played really, really well this year. I think our team chemistry has been really good,” said Marist Catholic senior forward Ella Shepard, who scored one of the Spartans’ goals in the win. “We’ve just been able to keep getting better as the season went on. We’ve been winning by more each game.”
“We worked so hard for this, and I’m so glad we got the win,” said Marist Catholic sophomore forward Libby McLaughlin, who had a spectacular performance in the title tilt with three goals and an assist. “We wanted to work hard and play the best that we could, at the highest level.”
Top-seeded Marist Catholic, which fell to North Marion in a penalty-kick shootout in last year’s title contest, finished the season at 17-1-1, going unbeaten in its final 17 matches, including Saturday’s contest, which gave the Spartans their second state title under head coach Stefan Schroffner.
“We were playing for each other, playing for our team, and we really wanted to win, and make up for last year,” McLaughlin said.
“Our team has grown so much since we’ve been together, and I’m really proud of all of us,” Shepard said.
Second-seeded La Grande, playing in its second-ever state championship match, finished its season at 14-2-1.
“It was really good. We have a great team, and we work really well together,” La Grande senior goalkeeper Lyndie Isaacson said. “Getting here was a great accomplishment. We all are super excited about it. Win or lose, we had a great time.”
The Spartans showed their aggressiveness right from the start of match and took a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute when senior Ella Braunger put a shot just out of the reach of a diving Isaacson and into the net from 10 yards out, coming off an assist from McLaughlin.
“We had a lot of preparation, and I think we just knew what we needed to do, and made sure to do that. And we left it all on the field,” Shepard said of the start.
Marist Catholic scored two more goals in the final five minutes of the first half. First, McLaughlin scored off a long pass from senior Kate Firth, and then Shepard scored after taking a short pass from senior Mattie Andrus following a scramble for the ball in front of the Tigers’ goal.
“I was just standing there, and (the ball) just came to me, and hit it, and in went in,” Shepard said. “It felt really good. It was the third one, and we felt pretty good then.”
McLaughlin scored twice in the second half, first scoring from close range off a pass from Firth. She capped off her big night less than a minute later, taking a long through pass from junior defender Gina Schroffner and scoring on a breakaway attempt.
“I’m shocked. I’m really proud. I didn’t expect it,” McLaughlin said of her performance. “I’m just really happy that I could finish up at a high level.”
The Marist Catholic defense, including Firth, junior Piper Paslay, senior Emma Hart and Schroffner, among others, also shined in the victory, not allowing the Tigers a single shot on goal in the contest.
Still, La Grande kept battling. Senior forward Paige Allen had a free-kick attempt from 40 yards out drift just right of the Spartans’ goal with just over 10 minutes left to play. Three minutes later, Tigers junior Mattie Wolcott had a free-kick cross toward the front of the goal only to have the ball punched away by Spartans’ junior goalkeeper Emily Meigs.
“I think that showing your heart, and playing your hardest, no matter what the score is, shows your true character,” Isaacson said.
Isaacson had a strong game in goal for La Grande, coming up with nine saves in the contest.
“I love the game, and I love playing for all the girls, and for God, so I’m going to put in all my work,” she said. “I made some mistakes today, which is hard, but we all do.”
As for Marist Catholic, McLaughlin is already looking forward to next year.
“I tasted the gold, and I want more,” she said with a smile. “I want another win.”
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