Lady Lion junior Jordyn Gray looks to attack during the second half of the game against Madison Plains on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. Gray scored both goals as Washington won 2-1 to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Tyler Flora | Record-Herald
For the first time in over a decade, the Washington Lady Lion soccer team is 2-0 to start a season.
“It’s been since around 2011,” said head coach Brandan Ellars. “In 2011 and 2012, they had some good runs here.”
The Lady Lions led 1-0 at the half thanks to a goal from junior Jordyn Gray.
At the 28:20 mark of the second half, the Golden Eagles tied it up 1-1.
Moments later, junior Calee Ellars assisted Gray as she scored her second goal of the contest to give Washington a 2-1 lead.
The Lady Lions would hold on over the next 25 minutes to fend off the Golden Eagles and come away with the victory.
Statistically for Washington, Gray had eight shots on goal, including the two aforementioned goals in the game. Sophomore Olivia Haycook, junior Calee Ellars and senior Destany Snyder each had two shots on goal. Senior Lyndyn Gibbs, and juniors Lydia Mootispaw and Jannyah Villalobos Burns each had one shot on goal.
In goal, freshman Eydyn Gibbs had six saves on seven shots at goal.
“I’m proud of these ladies,” Ellars stated. “Anybody that knows out program knows that we are trying to change things, so it’s great to be 2-0 at this point. Kudos to Madison Plains. They prepared for us very well today. They are another program like us that is trying to rebuild, and they came in and competed very nicely against us.
“We could have easily fallen to the pressure when they scored to tie it up, but we kept playing forward. We had a couple girls out today for various things, so we were playing with limited numbers, but we found a way to get the job done. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Ellars discussed the week ahead.
“We are at McClain on Tuesday and we host Hillsboro on Thursday. It’s a big week for us. We are going to come in on Monday and regroup and prepare ourselves. McClain has had a couple good games here to start the season. They lost a few players, but they have a good young group as well. Soccer is going to be very interesting in our league this year. Everybody should be very competitive and it’s going to be nice to be a part of it.”
