Storm wins 2A girls’ soccer state title

Squalicum’s girls’ soccer team couldn’t have been more dominant this season.

With the Storm’s 4-0 win over Ridgefield in the Class 2A State Championship on Saturday, Nov. 21, at Shoreline Stadium, Squalicum repeated as a state champion. Two weeks ago, the Storm repeated as district champions. A week before that, as Northwest Conference champions.

More impressive though is how Squalicum has accomplished the unbelievable success it’s had this season. The Storm has outscored opponents 102-4 in 23 games. Only two games were within a goal in a 23-0-0 season.

This team always had the chance to be better than last year’s squad, which went 23-0-1 with all the same trophies. But Storm coach David Kish was skeptical much could be better than a season with a tie as the only blemish.

“I didn’t know how we would top a perfect season last year with one tie, but well, I guess we did it,” Kish said. “I thought we had a great team last year. ... It’s just surreal. They’re just so good.”

The Storm achieved its second straight title by beating the second and third best teams in the state and neither could consistently match what Squalicum brought to the table.

On Saturday evening, the Storm controlled possession, neutralized Taryn Ries — the Spudders’ main threat — and kept pushing forward until the goals came.

The first tally finally arrived in the 38th minute — after three shots had already hit the post — and it came from, as a surprise to nobody, the Storm’s leading scorer, Kim Hazlett.

Hazlett’s 36th goal of the season and 11th of the postseason came off a throw-in by Kendra Steele, that was headed on by Kim Dorr. Hazlett was the first to the ball and, off the bounce, headed it hard into the net.

“It was really nice to be able to do that,” Hazlett said. “We had so many opportunities in the first half. ... It was just nice to get the lead before half.”

The goals came, if not easier, definitely quicker in the latter 40 minutes.

Kim Dorr made it two header goals when she used her noggin to pound in a cross from Braeden Hilleary in the 66th minute and then sliced in a shot in the 75th minute to all but seal the win.

Hilleary added a late score off a corner kick, when she got the ball just four yards out, smashed it against the keeper and then got her own rebound to find the net.

“We knew this was the last 40 minutes of our entire season and for the seniors, our soccer career of high school,” Kim Dorr said. “We just wanted to leave it all on the field.”

For how well the offensive juggernaut of the Storm played Saturday, the defense did just as well against Ries, who will join Hazlett at the University of Portland next year.

Ries got two good scoring opportunities that were both saved by goalkeeper Rachel Runnalls, but the defense of Rachel Dorr, Jayden Nguyen, Kelly Anderson and Olivia Benner was stellar to record its 20th save of the season.

“She is a great player. I was just happy when she had a shot, we made the save and when we could make a stop, we made the stop,” Kish said. “She was our biggest concern and I thought we handled her.”

For Rachel Dorr, it was a great moment to not only get a shutout but win a state title after missing last year’s championship season with a torn ACL.

“It was even sweeter than what I thought it was going to be,” Rachel Dorr said. “Once we kept putting goals in the back of the net, I was just counting down the seconds and the minutes. It’s indescribable.”

It’s the school’s second girls’ soccer state title but this squad was more than a championship team.

It was a perfect team.

This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 7:51 PM with the headline "Storm wins 2A girls’ soccer state title."