Puyallup forward Ella Bach is The News Tribune’s 2024 All-Area player of the year
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Matt White remembers one of Ella Bach’s first goals in a Puyallup High School uniform. The longtime Vikings’ soccer coach watched as Bach, who came into the school with some hype surrounding her, tried her luck on a shot from around 35 yards out. It was a shot few girls soccer players would even attempt at the high school level.
The shot screeched toward the goal, hit the crossbar and went in.
“It was a frozen rope,” White said. “You just go, ‘OK, that’s different.’ It wasn’t a back-post tap-in, something like that. She just hit a ripper.”
Over the past three years, Bach has made plenty of those shots. From anywhere and everywhere in the attacking third, Bach is looking to score. This year, she scored 16 goals for Puyallup despite missing a handful of games with injury, leading the Vikings back to the Class 4A state tournament. She is The News Tribune’s 2024 All-Area player of the year.
“I loved the overall improvement of the season and the team, the excitement of every home game,” Bach told The News Tribune at Sparks Stadium on Monday.
And those goals that make attendees stop and say, “Wow” — they keep coming.
“I definitely think it’s one of my main contributions to my team, especially because I have the ability to do it,” she said. “Not a lot of people can hit the ball that far or that hard.”
If Bach sounds confident, that’s because she is, and she has the skill set to back it up. Most games, she’s the most talented player on the field. She’s lightning fast, has long strides, combines well with teammates and has a high soccer IQ, putting herself in dangerous positions and making timely runs.
“This year, everything went through Ella in some shape or form,” White said.
Perhaps the season highlight came at Sparks against Curtis in mid-October. Bach scored a pair of late goals to seal a 2-1 win for the hosts, notching a win against a Curtis team which eventually went on to the 4A state semifinals and a third-place state tournament finish. Both shots were from around 30 yards out.
“If you can score from anywhere in a girls game, that changes everything,” White said. “Whatever you do, don’t let her shoot. … Those are the things that change games, when you’ve got a kid who is that dynamic.”
It was probably Bach’s favorite game of the season.
“I think so,” she said, pondering. “I improved my ability to get the ball in the back of the net (this season).”
Colleges have taken notice. While she was playing in a club-soccer tournament in Florida as an underclassmen, scouts from Clemson University were impressed. They offered her a scholarship shortly after watching her play. After Bach visited, she verbally committed to the Tigers. Prior to her recruitment, she hadn’t even heard of the South Carolina college.
“I didn’t even know what Clemson was — I didn’t know where it was,” she said, laughing. “It was a big surprise to me. Once they did their research, I was like, ‘This is a pretty big school.’”
First, the talented junior forward will have another club season with Crossfire Premier before suiting up for the Vikings one last time as a senior. A couple of her neighbors played for Puyallup’s 2019 soccer team, which won a state championship. She’d like a ring of her own.
“Just winning state, that’s been my overall dream,” she said. “It’s my goal. I hope we connect as a team next year and accomplish things that not a lot of teams accomplish.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
