The Ridgefield Spudders girls soccer team lifted the 2A girls state championship trophy for the second year in a row with a 1-0 win over the Columbia River Rapids on Saturday, Nov. 23.
Last year, the Spudders flew under the radar to conquer the 2A state title. This year, as the first overall seed throughout the postseason, the Spudders did not give up a single goal in their last seven games en route to their repeat victory, as they outscored opponents 12-0 in the state tournament, including a 2-0 win over fourth-seeded Bellingham High School in the semifinal round on Friday, Nov. 22.
When the soccer team returned home from Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma on Nov. 23, they were greeted with a police escort through the city of Ridgefield and welcomed by supporters at the high school.
In an interview with the Reflector on Sunday, Nov. 24, four seniors, Abigail Vance, Nora Martin, Marlee Buffham and Baylee Bushnell, described the night from the final whistle to arriving back at the high school as emotional and amazing. Buffham was credited with the lone goal in the title game after it deflected off of a Columbia River player and into the back of the net.
“I think it’s really cool to see such a small community come together when we accomplish something,” Martin said.
To complete the repeat state title, the Spudders had to defeat their rivals, Columbia River High School, three times throughout the course of the season, including the district and state title matches. The season series between the Spudders and Rapids went 3-1, with the Rapids taking the first of two regular season games and the Spudders winning three straight.
“I think winning a championship in general is going to feel good but especially against our rivals and a team that in the past we haven’t performed well [against]. So this year, especially, it feels really good,” Martin said.
Playing the Rapids in the state title game adds a new chapter to the rivalry between the two girls soccer programs, the Spudder seniors felt.
“I think just getting to play River under that stage, that pressure, is just so cool. Like, it was such a good way to end it and like a full-circle moment,” Bushnell said of adding a state title matchup to the rivalry. “Going back and forth between all the years has been so fun, and to end it that way was so cool. And definitely to come out on top made it feel even more special.”
Now, with two state champion rings, the seniors’ high school soccer campaigns come to an end.
“I think it’s just really bittersweet,” Buffham said. “We all love each other, and we’ve played together for so long. It’s the best way that you could end your senior season.”
Ending a high school career as back-to-back state champions was hard to believe for some Spudders.
“It’s crazy to think that was our last time playing together,” Vance said. “We’ve been playing with each other since, like, third grade, and to go into high school and play with each other and to win twice, it was really cool.”
For Spudders head coach Steven Evans, inheriting this class of 2025 as sophomores when he took the job and watching their growth has been phenomenal, he said.
“When I was working at the University of Portland with the head coach, Nick Carlin-Voigt, his big thing was ‘leave the program better than when you got here,’ right?,” Evans said. “I’ve been with this group for three years now. I saw these guys when they were sophomores. The development and the growth and the maturity that I’ve seen from these ladies over those three years has been amazing. You know, the relationships that I personally built, I think that they built together as a group and the culture they built within the program. To have two state titles back to back is such an accomplishment.”
The team’s success wouldn’t have happened without the willingness to work and make sacrifices, Evans said, adding that as a coach he got extremely lucky being able to coach this group.
Key components to the success budded when players opted to switch positions and gelled as a group on the field. Evans said the girls worked together as a unit to all have impacts on defense, even more than on offense throughout the majority of the time in the postseason.
“The last seven games we had all shutouts, right? And to do that is such a great sign about the team, starting from your forwards through your midfielders, defenders and goalies,” Evans said. “Our goalies were extremely confident and tough, and I think that kind of resonated throughout the group when you have that presence in the back. The rest of the group kind of follows suit, and they say, ‘OK, our goalies, we got them, we know if we need them, they’re going to step up for us.’ So I think that confidence was great throughout the group.”
