Meridian girls’ soccer kicks postseason off strong; Lunde gets hat trick (w/video)

Now this was Meridian’s brand of soccer.

Coming into the postseason, the Trojan girls were dealing with a series of late-season struggles which stemmed from myriad injuries. They put all that in the rear view mirror on Wednesday, Oct. 28, with a convincing 5-1 win over Sultan in the Class 1A Northwest District semifinal.

And the Trojans got the victory playing the way coach Terri Tigert has preached to her squad the past two seasons — a fast-paced attack that starts in the midfield, works its way to the wing and then toward the goal using pinball passing combinations and calm finishes. It was all on display Wednesday night.

Payton Lunde scored three goals and recorded an assist, leading scorer Micaela Pimento tallied the second goal of the game when she beat the goalie to a ball and tapped it in and Tanis Harrison capped the win with a late score off a speedy run and delivery by Mikhayla Boyd.

“Something we’ve been struggling with is that midfield, that core,” said Tigert, noting that the injuries that have plagued the Trojans have mostly been to central players. “I thought tonight our midfield brought it together and played for each other and did what we needed to to do to get in the attack.”

A strong midfield needs a cool finisher though and Lunde was all that and more Wednesday. Her 20th minute goal came from Emily Brackinreed on the wing and the junior slotted it into the net. She did the same in the 73nd minute off a pass from Lexi Groen.

Lunde also scored in the 50th minute when her cross was misplayed by the Sultan goalie and barely slid across the goal line to make it 3-0.

“I know when the team needs it, it’s a lot easier to stay composed and finish a ball,” Lunde said after the game. “All the balls were so good I didn’t have to think about it too much, just go for the open corner.”

Sultan tried to relive some of the magic of last year’s postseason matchup with the Trojans, which went to a shootout, when Zoei Wallace found the net in the 55th minute to make it 3-1. It was one of the few slip-ups by the defense led by Sydney Gospodinovich’s seven saves on the night. But Lunde and Harrison’s late tallies sealed the win.

“I think the confidence is coming back which is definitely what we need in the postseason,” Tigert said.

Meridian’s win sets up a rematch with King’s, which topped Lynden Christian 9-0 Wednesday to secure its spot in the district title game. King’s also beat Meridian twice in last year’s postseason — once in the district title game and once in the state quarterfinals. The Knights and Trojans also met in the district title in 2013, when King’s won 3-0.

The history doesn’t stop there between the two teams. The 1A schools met each other five times in the postseason in just the past three years. King’s, though, has won all five matches by a combined score of 9-1.

“With a history of losing to King’s and it being a battle with them for getting to the state playoffs or district championship, I think it’s just going to give us more momentum, going in wanting to beat them,” Tigert said. “I think fear is out of the question. Just pushing hard and making sure we stay consistent is going to help us with that.”

Lunde put it into her own words.

“I think it’ll bring us a lot of energy and we’ll come out really strong against them.”

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 10:42 PM with the headline "Meridian girls’ soccer kicks postseason off strong; Lunde gets hat trick (w/video)."