No postseason in play, but reigning 4A state champion Puyallup still dominating

If the Puyallup High School girls soccer team turns the ball over, opponents shouldn’t expect to get past Callie Lowney.

Vikings’ coach Matt White says opponents have three seconds at most to decide their next move, or else the junior midfielder will have already stolen the ball right back.

“She is a ball-seeking missile,” White said. “Instant pressure is what she brings. She plays at that full 100 percent … always just in fifth gear. … I’m a firm believer that your team takes on the personality of your best players. … And everybody on the field knows. That sort of example, I think, brings everybody up (to say) ‘Woah, there’s a whole new level.’”

The success rate of scoring a goal on the reigning Class 4A state champion Vikings is low. Beating them is simply another story. The Vikings are undefeated through four games of their abbreviated season. During that stretch, Puyallup has only conceded a single goal to their opponents.

The window between the first practice and first game was shortened this year, so White said the focus quickly shifted to defense. That approach, surely, has paid off.

“We knew that time was short, and (had) little time to craft offense,” White said. “(We’ve) focused on team defense … team press, things like that. Those are things that even when everything else isn’t going well, you can work on that. ‘I don’t need the ball, you have the ball, and I can adjust to what you do and the team can adjust to what you do.’ That can be more… prescribed.”

Puyallup’s latest 2-1 victory over Rogers High School featured their first goal allowed since November 2019, when the Vikings hoisted the state championship trophy in their own stadium. But in Puyallup’s first three games, the team won three consecutive shutouts, allowing just two shots on the goal in all three matches combined.

Defense won Puyallup their championship just over a year ago, and it certainly has provided the team with four consecutive wins to open the season now.

“I always start the year saying something like, ‘We are never going to stop defending. We are never going to stop organizing our defense,’” White said. “But this year, that has been more of a focus, because we’ve had fewer days.”

Puyallup’s primary mission, though, has never been to win a state championship. That statement rings even truer now, given the cancellation of state championships throughout high school programs because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lowney’s perspective -- along with her teammates -- is that the Vikings are simply happy to be back on the field and playing alongside one another.

Though most of the team plays on club soccer teams, those programs have been postponed for the better part of a year since the pandemic caused a nationwide shutdown. But for the Vikings, the team chemistry certainly is still there.

“We just have a really good vibe on our team,” Lowney said. “All of us are friends outside of soccer as well, so we’ve just been clicking on and off the field this year. A key that has always been there for Puyallup soccer, and is going to continue this year, is that we always want it so much. We come out and want it every single game.”

Already one of the state’s premier high school programs, Puyallup does want to continue progressing. And ‘playing for the next,’ a mantra used by the Vikings during their title run, as well as now, continues to serve as the team’s guiding light to victory.

“We just need to keep progressing,” White said. “One of our goals is… constant improvement. So what did we do before? What are we doing next? Did we make mistakes? Absolutely, but mistakes are a part of sports, so let’s improve on that and we get better.

“Whether we did something awesome or did something bad, that thing is in the past. We’ve got to do the next thing. They’ve bought into that and have continued to be open to both of those things: playing for the next, and constant improvement.”

Though the Vikings will be unable to fully defend their state title, the SPSL’s two divisions plan to hold a crossover tournament on March 20. The top teams from each division will compete, along with a contest between each division’s second place team, and so on. That could potentially mean a matchup with perennial 3A power Gig Harbor, which is playing in the 4A SPSL this season.

Whatever competition comes their way, Puyallup’s mission remains the same: play for the next.

“We’re just here for our kids to get the opportunity to compete and participate with their classmates, for their school, for things that have just been gone,” White said. “If a league championship comes out of it, awesome. Fantastic. So happy for them, and (I’m) so happy that they got to do something. But we’re not aiming for that. (That’s) not going to be the arbiter of success for the season. COVID-19 has to change your heart and your mindset for what you’re doing.”

This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 11:32 AM.