Hazen soccer opens with big win over Lindbergh

Madison Taylor led the Highlanders with three goals and an assist while Madison Kem added two goals and three assists.

Though no longer in the same athletic league, the Hazen and Lindbergh girls soccer teams officially opened their season with a head to head match-up Tuesday night that saw the Lady Highlanders roll to 10-1 victory over their cross-town rivals.

Madison Taylor led the Highlanders with three goals and an assist while Madison Kem added two goals and three assists. Nicole Lenton, Meagan Kelley, Allison Sargeant each added goals, as did Sydney Shannon and Haley Orozco, each of whom was playing in their first varsity game.

Nia Johnson, also playing her first game, had three assists. Rae Gerking, also in her first game, added an assist, as did Shannon and Amy Warmenhoven.

All of Hazen’s goals came in a 35-minute span that began toward the end of the first half and continued through eight minutes into the second.

Coach Ken Matthews credited the Highlanders passing game.

“Probably the best we played was the first 25 minutes,” he said in an email. “We were passing and moving so well. It took us a while to get going, but when the goals came, they came pretty fast.”

Tuesday marked the only time this season the two schools will play each other, a break from previous years when both played in the now-defunct Seamount League. This season, Hazen opted up into the 4A North Puget Sound League’s north division, while the Eagles play in the 2A South Puget Sound League’s Mountain Division.

Hazen is scheduled to play at Liberty at 7 p.m. Saturday and at Tahoma on Tuesday.

Lindbergh is scheduled to host White River on Thursday and then hosts Franklin Pierce at 7 p.m. Tuesday, both at Renton Memorial Stadium.

Renton iss scheduled to open its season against Clover Park at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Renton Memorial Stadium.