Bellingham season ends with loss to Cedarcrest

Bellingham girls’ soccer lost 5-2 to Cedarcrest to end its season on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at Cedarcrest High School.

Cedarcrest scored early, earning three goals in the first 15 minutes, leading the game 3-0 at halftime. Bellingham stepped up with two goals in the second half.

Kayla Heidenreich scored unassisted and Britney Butcher earned a goal on an assist from Morgan Jones in the final minutes of the game.

“I think that we had a really good start and then things got a little haywire when they got three goals on us,” Bellingham coach Mark Wright said in a phone interview.

Sydney Keuhn and Sarah Hommes each scored twice for Cedarcrest.

Both sides fought defensively, allowing only a handful of shots on goal, but they were well-placed shots coming from Cedarcrest.

“I think ultimately the message to the girls was that I am just proud of the way they finished the game,” Wright said. “For whatever reason, this year we were a team that just hemorrhaged goals. We gave up more goals than we ever had before but they finish the game well, that’s what I’ll remember about this group.”

As coaches, Wright said, they need to figure out more ways to put the girls in better situations. Looking at next season, that’s what he is going to be focused on when preparing the team.

The team lost six seniors this year, but many of the younger girls have stepped up throughout the season, Wright said.

“I’m excited about what we saw from Melissa (Burke-Manwaring), Lucy (Mantha) and Britney,” he said. “I’m looking forward to what these young kids are going to be doing next year.”

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Bellingham season ends with loss to Cedarcrest."