Gig Harbor drops state game to Skyline, but grows over successful season

Maybe the Gig Harbor High girls soccer team didn’t make a run through the Class 4A state tournament like last season, losing 2-0 on the road to Skyline on Nov. 10, but senior captain Lauren Hatteberg still learned some things over the course of the season.

With former professional soccer player Stephanie Cox taking over the program, the team won the Narrows 4A title, and more importantly, grew up.

“She definitely changed the game for us,” Hatteberg said. “We were kind of a kick-and-run team before. Now we’re technical and composed on the ball. She clicked with the team. She taught us about the game; her knowledge helped us get better as people and players. We were blessed to have her.”

In her first year, Cox was impressed with the group of seniors she inherited, including Hatteberg.

“Our senior class was remarkable just in their attitude and approach to the game,” Cox said. “Just their consistency — they’ll be greatly missed.”

Looking back, Hatteberg said she enjoyed all of her journey, from wide-eyed freshman to senior captain.

“It was a great experience,” she said. “It was something I looked forward to a freshman: being a captain. We were all really close, we all liked each other. It’s weird to not have that right now. We really meshed.”

Gig Harbor finished its season 13-4-1 after dropping the opening state tournament game to Skyline. The Tides struggled all night to get any attack going.

“Skyline was very organized defensively,” Cox said. “They had a lot of control of the ball. When we had it, they put us under a lot of pressure and did a good job defending our attacking players, so it was hard to get a good rhythm.”

Skyline struck in the 17th minute when senior Gabby Hart handled a low cross into the box, spun around her defender and sent it past the Gig Harbor keeper.

“We were diving in on it a little bit,” Cox said.

The Tides didn’t manage a shot on goal until there were three minutes left in the half. The midfield never was able to get on the same page with the forwards.

“The first half, I think we were a little taken aback by the speed of play,” Cox said. “I think things were just really fast for us, especially in our midfield. Our midfielders couldn’t quite get up or get back. It was a very fast-paced game. It’s something that we haven’t really seen a lot of during the season.”

Hatteberg couldn’t put her finger on any specific reason why the Tides struggled.

“We seemed really out of sync for some reason — I’m not sure what it was. We just didn’t seem to come out with the full intensity that we usually do. Connecting offensively, we just couldn’t find that. Our back line, we put a lot of pressure on them.”

Gig Harbor possessed the ball better in the second half, but the Skyline defense remained sturdy. With four minutes to go in the game, Skyline junior Alexa Kirton floated a header into the Gig Harbor net to seal the win.

“I’ll miss my team,” Hatteberg said. “Even after losing that game, I knew if we came out harder, we could’ve won.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Gig Harbor drops state game to Skyline, but grows over successful season."