HS Girls Soccer: RA Long Makes Statement in Win Over WF West

9/7/23

R.A. Long 6, W.F. West 0

(Chehalis, WA) One year after reaching the state tournament following a 2nd place finish in the 2A Greater St. Helens League, the R.A. Long Lumberjills began their quest to take their journey a few steps farther with a showdown against fellow District 4 2A foe W.F. West. While first game jitters are expected, there were none in sight for the Lumberjills as they started off by just playing possession before turning up the aggression. The Bearcats had no answer for the well balanced attack of R.A. Long as the Jills started off the 2023 campaign with an emphatic 6-0 shutout win over the Bearcats.

For the first 20 minutes, both teams got a feel for the game and took turns with attacks as time of possession was split pretty evenly. Then, in the blink of an eye, R.A. Long woke up and took over. Alice Anderson got the scoring started with a 21st minute goal to get the Jills on the board. Just minutes later in the 27th, Kathryn Chapin got her big day going with her first goal of the match to make it 2-0. Just before the half, the Jills got one more and it was the most impressive goal of the half. Olivia Durrett placed a shot perfectly in the top left corner to make it 3-0 heading into halftime.

Coming out of the break, W.F. West was still struggling breaking down the R.A. Long backline. The defense of Sienna Dorland, Emily Ramirez, Madeleine Smith, and Madison Fierst would not anything get near keeper Kendra Chapin. Plenty of offense was still being put up by the Jills on offense. Kathryn Chapin added two more second half goals to give herself a hat trick in their season opener. One more penalty kick by Audrey Zdunich put the finishing touches on this one as R.A. Long kept the clean sheet to defeat W.F. West 6-0.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game was Kathryn Chapin. Not only did the senior forward put up a hat trick for herself, she played unselfish soccer and set up teammates for offensive attacks constantly. We also saw her drop back to help on defense when she was needed and really showcased why she is a leader on a team that has the potential to do serious damage in the 2A classification this season.

After the season opening win, R.A. Long (1-0) will begin league play in their next match on Tuesday in their home opener when they host the Ridgefield Spudders. For W.F. West (0-2), they will have one more opportunity to test out some new strategies when they host Mark Morris on Saturday before beginning EvCo 2A play next week.

You can watch the full replay of the match in the link below.

WF West vs R A Long – Girls Varsity Soccer 09/07/2023 | Live & On Demand (nfhsnetwork.com)

Postgame Show