Warden girls soccer team strives for state

The Warden High School girls soccer team is not undefeated, but it is in the running to make a state appearance this year after hard work throughout the season.

Head coach BryLee Whitney said the team has seen enormous growth over the season.

“We look like a whole new team,” Whitney said.

While the team has grown in a lot of areas, both as individuals and altogether, Whitney said its finishing needs work. She explained it had a lot of goal opportunities, but it couldn’t quite follow through.

Whitney says there are three players on her team who stood out most this year, either for their hard work or growth in the season. Junior Quinn Erdmann was a top scorer this season, senior Arely Rangel had numerous assists and sophomore Maira Zarazoga showed leaps and bounds in her improvement.

Warden was expected to play Granger High School Thursday. Whitney said it was a very important game to the postseason standing. Whitney said the team was in fourth place in the league and Granger was third in the league.

If the Lady Cougars beat Granger, it bumps up the team’s standing in the league and sets it up better for districts and the state competition. Whitney said she isn’t too worried about the game against Granger because Warden already beat Granger earlier in the season. She acknowledged Granger’s team wasn’t its full roster for that game, though.

Besides Granger, the Lady Cougars have two games left before postseason. The team plays Cle Elum on Tuesday and Burbank after that. Whitney said Cle Elum will be another important game because she said Cle Elum was second in the league so far. The match against Burbank didn’t worry Whitney at all and she said she expected an easy victory.

As of Wednesday, the Lady Cougars were 4-4 in the league. The game results against Granger were not available by press time.