The East Jefferson Rivals girls soccer team marked their senior night and final home game with a 5-2 victory over the Cascade Christian Cougars of Puyallup.

The game was held at the Jefferson County Memorial Athletic Field in Port Townsend on Tuesday, Oct. 17.

Rivals coach Rob Cantley credited his players with taking an early lead, thanks to seniors Ellise Gardner, Iris Mattern and Ava Shiflett working together to score two goals in the first 10 minutes.

“Two more goals in the 26th and 36th minutes took us to a 4-1 halftime lead,” Cantley said. “Third goal was scored by Gardner, after being teed up by Mattern from a Shiflett free kick.”

The fourth goal was scored by Shiflett after a combination play by Mattern and sophomore Sienna Emerson, while the final goal was scored by Mattern after 45 minutes.

Cantley touted team captains Mattern and Shiflett as playing “at a high level year-round,” as well as bringing experience, leadership and inspiration to the team.

Defensively, Cantley praised junior Rennie O'Donnell and freshman Teri Wiley for keeping the Cougars away from their goal for much of the game, while senior Mi Amada Lanphear-Ramirez “did the quiet dirty work” of a defensive midfielder, breaking up opposition play and disrupting the Cougars’ attacks by winning the ball in midfield and protecting the back line.

“As a team, we have a strong bond across the board, from freshmen to seniors,” Cantley said. “The girls are extremely supportive of each other on the field, encouraging each other through highs and lows.”

Win or lose, Cantley deemed the Rivals “a difficult team to play against,” in spite of having more freshmen and sophomores than juniors and seniors.

“Some of that inexperience can be seen in the games, with simple errors and mistakes leading to goals against us,” Cantley said.

Moving forward, Cantley said the Rivals aim to pull off an upset in the qualifying round of the district playoffs against the third-place team, and to make the most of their outside shot at qualifying for the state tournament.

“It might sound strange to say, but our best accomplishments have come in losses against the best teams,” said Cantley, who noted how the Rivals “frustrated” state champions Klahowya defensively, in spite of losing to them 4-0. “A 4-3 loss to Vashon at home could very easily have been a tie or even a win for us on another day, and two 3-0 losses to Bellevue Christian again don't tell the whole story of how difficult we were to beat.”

Indeed, Cantley recalled how those teams’ coaches, “who are used to steamrolling their opponents,” admitted to him after their games how challenging they found the Rivals.

Given that Cantley sees his players as representatives of their community, he’d love to see even more community members turn out for the girls’ games than the “decent crowds” they already generate.

“When there’s a noticeable and vocal crowd in the stands, it really does lift the team, and they appreciate it,” Cantley said. “For 99 percent of the athletes who graduate from Port Townsend or Chimacum, this is the only time in their lives they'll ever get to experience anything like playing for a crowd under the lights downtown.”

Cantley sees girls soccer as being at least as engaging as boys football, especially with players as formidable as Mattern and Shiflett on his lineup.

“It makes me a little sad to know these two absolutely bright, once-in-a-generation talents have passed through without more recognition by the wider community,” Cantley said. “I would like to see the community turn out and show these young women they are supported by a critical mass of people who believe in their well-being. You can come support a girl's journey into womanhood, and fall in love with soccer along the way.”