The Ridgefield Spudders gained the lead twice in regular time courtesy of Marlee Buffham’s two goals but needed big kicks and a massive save to earn the 5-4 win determined by penalty kicks against the Columbia River Rapids.
The Spudders picked up the big win over the Rapids in front of the home crowd on Tuesday, Oct. 22, ahead of two more wins as the 2A Greater St. Helens League regular season comes to a close this week.
“[This win] means a lot, I mean, they’re always a super tough team,” Spudders senior forward Tori Lasch said. “We just have to be mentally prepared and physically prepared, and we came out and we wanted it. We were first to every ball and just had grit all the way through.”
Last season, the Rapids got the better of the Spudders twice in the regular season, but Ridgefield found an answer in the semifinal matchup with a 1-0 win over Columbia River before being crowned the 2A state champions in 2023. This year, the Rapids won the first regular season meeting earlier in the schedule, leaving the Spudders hungry for that win in front of their home crowd.
The Spudders held the lead 1-0 after the first half, but the score was quickly tied before Buffham found the back of the net again. The Rapids quickly answered again to even the score at two goals each.
After overtime, the teams traded penalty kicks. The Rapids blocked the Spudders on their second kick but Ridgefield stayed alive thanks to a Rapids’ attempt that sailed over the crossbar.
After Ridgefield’s Savvy Semlick made her kick, Spudders goalkeeper Tyler Merlock needed a stop to secure the win. She guessed correctly and blocked the penalty kick attempt, which was followed by the large group of students storming the field to celebrate with the team.
“This is a big deal for us,” Merlock said. “We have not beat them in league since I’ve been a freshman, and I think that we’ve been there and we dominated the last game. I think we just really wanted it, and unfortunately they did come back [in regular time] because they’re a very talented team, always been a pain in our butts, but we’ve done PKs before. We won the state championship last year in PKs. We did quarterfinals in PKs.”
Spudders head coach Steven Evans said his team, especially the large senior core, anticipates the matchups with the Rapids more than others.
“River is always the big matchup that they get up for, you know. You can see it with the crowd and the fans that come out. So I think for us to win it on our home turf is a positive thing,” Evans said.
Buffham, a senior forward, agreed with her coach.
“River has always been a great program, and the games are always great,” Buffham said. “We all have so much fun and there’s so much anticipation, but I think we’ve worked really hard to get where we are right now, and we just keep improving.”
Buffham added that the home crowd made the big win even more meaningful.
“We have a huge crowd, and our school is super supportive of our program and all of our players, and it’s great to win at home,” she said.
Merlock said the student section running to storm the field to celebrate after her save made the game especially meaningful.
“We have a really fantastic student body, especially with women’s sports, any game, they’re always here,” Merlock said. “And I think that it feels better to win at home because we owe it to our community. We owe it to them.”
The Spudders followed their massive regular season win with a 3-1 win against the Woodland Beavers on Thursday, Oct. 24, followed by an 2-1 win against R.A. Long High School of Longview on Saturday, Oct. 26. Ridgefield next played against Hudson’s Bay High School on Monday, Oct. 28, to close out the regular season, but results were unavailable at press time.
