Scoring Machine

The Oregon City Pioneers leave no doubt as to who is Number One in Oregon high school girls lacrosse

By John Denny

The Oregon City News, May 27, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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BEAVERTON – Ranked No. 1 all season, the Oregon City Pioneers have proven without question that they were the top high school girls lacrosse team in Oregon in 2009.

The Pioneers finished the season with an 18-0 record against Oregon opponents and they made one of the most dominating runs in the 15-year history of Oregon high school girls lacrosse in the state playoffs.

The Pioneers’ out-scored their opponents 79-27 in their four state playoff games, and they routed second-ranked Lake Oswego 23-7 in last Thursday’s state final. They defeated Roseburg 19-3, seventh-ranked Sunset 19-4 and third-ranked Lakeridge 18-13 en route to their title match-up with the Lakers.

It’s the first state championship in lacrosse in the eight-year history of the sport at Oregon City High School.

Winning was all the more emotional for the Pioneers, because the seniors on the team had come close twice before, losing games with state championship teams from St. Mary’s in the final in 2007 and in the semifinals last year – after leading at halftime.

“This means everything to me….,” said Oregon City senior co-captain Natalie Harrington. “I can’t even explain how happy I am….

“I give every player on the team credit. It was definitely a team win.”

“The key was our heart and determination,” said Oregon City senior co-captain Kaitlyn Harper. “It was just how bad we wanted it. We’ve come so close so many times. This was our time.”

“This is what we’ve worked for since seventh grade,” said senior Maddie Garcia. “This has been our dream. I’m just so excited and proud of my teammates. We’ve worked so hard for this.”

“All our hard work since seventh grade has finally paid off,” said senior Brianne Paisley. “Holding [the trophy] makes everything worthwhile. It feels so-o-o good!”

“I’m just so proud of these girls,” said Oregon City coach Dara Kramer. “They’ve worked so hard for this and they put everything they’ve learned in practice to work on the field tonight.”

The Pioneers’ rout of Lake Oswego in last week’s final was clearly a team victory. The Lakers double- and triple-teamed Oregon City’s leading scorer, middie Natalie Harrington, through most of the game. But it didn’t seem to matter. Oregon City’s first six goals were by six different players and five Oregon City players scored three or more goals in the championship game.

Oregon City went up 3-0 on goals by Kaitlyn Harper, Kelsey Sether and Brianne Paisley inside the first three minutes of play and the Pioneers dominated more and more as the game progressed.

The Pioneers led 10-3 at the end of the first half. And they took complete command after the intermission, when much of the game was played at Lake Oswego’s end of the field.

Oregon City junior keeper Amanda Willis saved six of 11 Laker shots on-frame while she was in-goal.

Lake Oswego senior keeper Evan Goldsmith got little rest, as the Pioneers fired off close to 40 shots on-frame.

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