(May 2nd) Completing a fabulous 2010-11 season, our NWN GU13 White won the WSYSA Division II Challenge Cup Sunday at Starfire Soccer Complex.

The weekend to remember began Saturday afternoon with a battle against Spokane Shadow’s B team. A tightly contested contest saw Hannah score off a corner kick to grab the only goal of the game. Another team effort was needed to post the team’s fourth consecutive shut-out in Challenge Cup play. As had been customary of late, the entire roster put in a great effort in the true description of a team win. Full credit to Spokane for a great battle, but in the end, our girls were victorious again.

Less than 24 hours later the final came calling - a projected tightly contested rematch against Whatcom Rangers’ B team. These teams opened the WSYSA spring season with a tight 0-0 game. Many expected another tight game, but the girls had other plans. On the strength of goals by Maddi and Emily, the Nationals bolted to a 2-0 halftime lead. Not content to sit back for the remaining 35 minutes, our girls came out on fire in the second half and added to the lead on a long-range strike by Emily to make the scoreline 3-0.

However, Whatcom was not finished. Scoring off a scrum in front of the net with 20 minutes remaining gave them life at 3-1. That goal broke a scoreless streak of 410 minutes of Challenge Cup play, going back to the opening game of the tournament. A truly amazing run of stellar defensive play and great goalkeeping had come to an end. Perhaps the shock of giving up a goal stunned our girls, and before long, a second Whatcom goal made it 3-2 to set up a classic finish.

But true to form over the past several weeks, team defending and hard work paid off as Whatcom was not able to find an equalizer. As the final whistle blew, the girls erupted into victorious celebration.

Congratulations to Maddi, Hannah, Victoria, Emily, Evan, Ellen, Ivy, Claire, Ellie, Katie, Elise, Markie, Nicole, Jessica, Emilie, and Hailey for a fantastic season!

Showing the depth of talent at this age group in our club, our girls defeated four B teams in addition to teams from Crossfire and Eastside enroute to the championship.