For the second straight game, the Hazen High School girls soccer team had the dream start. For the second straight game, they had the nightmare end and lost by a goal.
Hazen took on Mercer Island in their penultimate regular season game and fell to the Islanders, 2-1, on Oct. 21 at Renton Memorial Stadium.
“The scoreline is not ‘our team,’ that is the frustrating part,” said head coach Breann Vanden Bos after the game.
The Highlanders left frustrated and unsettled with the result. Vanden Bos attributes that to just not having the highest intensity levels coming into the game against the Islanders.
“You watch them walk off the field. They are frustrated with how they played and I think that just compounds. Honestly I think there was just an overall lack of intensity tonight and we just need to bring it back up,” Vanden Bos said.
The Highlanders now sit in third place in the KingCo Mountain division, but are the highest rated 4A team in that division. After the win, Mercer Island now sits atop the standings with Cedarcrest, who beat Newport, 2-0, on Oct. 21.
Against both Cedarcrest back on Oct. 16 and more recently against Mercer Island, the Highlanders took a quick, early lead 1-0, but then they would go on to lose both games. There was clear frustration from the Hazen players and coaching staff following the game because the Highlanders know the level they can play at, but they were just not there against the Islanders. “We just need to pick it up and play our game because we did not play Hazen soccer today,” Vanden Bos said.
Katie Christianson looks to clear a ball over the outstreched foot of Hayden Feimster. Ben Ray / The Reporter
In the fifth minute, Marisa Aoki made an advantageous run after a pass deflected off a Mercer Island defender. Aoki controlled the ball, avoided the Mercer Island goalkeeper and scored.
Mercer Island did mount a response to being down 1-0, but the Hazen defense was up to the challenge, especially freshman goalkeeper Audrey Lee. “The kid is fearless,” Vanden Bos said. “She’s gotten more confident every game. I’ve never seen a keeper this fearless and not afraid of anything. She’ll go against any kid at any time, any size.”
There aren’t many keepers that play like Lee, an aggressive, athletic and talented freshman who has shown tremendous improvement between the posts for Hazen.
Audrey Lee holds the ball in her hands as the Hazen goalkeeper. Ben Ray / The Reporter
In the second half, the Islanders took over. Mercer Island controlled the ball, had all of the chances and capitalized on them immediately. “We let down after that first goal. We can’t do that. We’ve done that two games in a row. We are really good at the quick goal and then it’s that momentum, we gotta learn how to keep it,” Vanden Bos said.
In the 42nd minute, two minutes after the halftime break, the Islanders leveled. Hayden Feimster made a brilliant run in behind the Hazen defense and beat Lee for the leveling goal.
Then 14 minutes later, Mercer Island scored once more. A corner was sent in and Jackie Gonzalez caught it on her right foot and directed it into the goal, for what would be the game deciding goal.
“They had the momentum in the two goals and we just didn’t respond,” Vanden Bos said.
Junior midfielder Kalia Walker was all over the field and can make an impact at any moment for the Highlanders.
“She was phenomenal tonight. Kalia is probably one of the most underrated players on the team. She’s silent, steady and always putting everything on the field. She is amazing,” Vanden Bos said.
Kalia Walker dribbles the ball for Hazen against Mercer Island. Ben Ray / The Reporter
Hazen now turns its head to Newport, a side they have beaten once already this season. But an interesting challenge awaits this year’s finale with the Knights.
“It’s confidence. We need to see them play confidently (tonight). When they play confident they are amazing, when they play scared you see what happens,” Vanden Bos said.
Following the match against Newport, depending on a crossover game with Lincoln (Seattle) and a team in the Crown-Crest division, the Highlanders could face Newport a second time. But this time in the postseason.
Hazen failed to make the KingCo Tournament last season, but has locked in their spot this time around. The Highlanders have yet to make a district tournament since moving to District 2 in 2020 and making the jump back to 4A in 2022. This is the first KingCo Tournament for Hazen, and Vanden Bos wants to see them play like the team they are capable of.
“There is so much potential in this group. If you would have seen them the last three weeks, this was not that team,” Vanden Bos said. “They can be amazing.”
