Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

PREP GIRLS' SOCCER: Granite Falls ends Bellingham's season

After quickly falling behind in the first half, the Bellingham girls' soccer team was unable to bounce back against Granite Falls on Thursday, Nov. 5, at Cedarcrest High School. The Red Raiders were eliminated from the Class 2A Northwest District Tournament consolation bracket by a score of 2-1.

Granite Falls moves on to play Cedarcrest in a winner-to-state game at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7 at Cedarcrest High School.

Marissa Ogren and Kaitlan Howell scored unassisted goals in the 21st and 34th minutes, giving Granite Falls an early 2-0 lead at halftime.

As the teams were battling stormy weather, the lights on the field went out after Granite Falls scored its first goal.

"I thought the game went back and forth before we banged into their girl right outside of our box and with a free kick, she was able to find the back of the net," Bellingham coach Mark Wright said in a phone interview. "We get frantic when we're behind, the lights went out, and they got their second goal."

At halftime, Bellingham decided to bring up a player to help on offense for the second half.

"We threw an extra girl into the attack in second half," Wright said. "We took some chances up front which left us exposed, but we were still able to score."

In the 41st minute, Bellingham's Jade Thurston maneuvered around three Granite Falls defenders to score unassisted for the Red Raiders' only goal, which ended all scoring.

Despite the loss, Wright said he was proud of the girls on his team, especially the seniors, for their work this season.

"For our team it was an interesting challenge right from the start because expectations were high," Wright said. "There were nights where we were able to exceed those expectations and I'm proud of their efforts."

GRANITE FALLS 2, BELLINGHAM 1

Scoring: Goal: Marissa Ogren (Granite Falls), time: 21:00; Goal: Kaitlan Howell (Granite Falls), time: 34:00; Goal: Jade Thurston (Bellingham), time: 41:00. Shots on goal: Granite Falls 4; Bellingham 5. Goalies (saves): Granite Falls: Kelsey Carlson (6); Bellingham: Hannah Wade (4).