MOSES LAKE — Strong performances on defense, along with a tight-knit team bond, have allowed the Moses Lake girls soccer team to get off to a 6-2-1 start to the season, as the Mavericks look to continue their push for the postseason during their bye this week. 

“They’ve been doing really well, coming together and working hard to focus on the same, mutual goal – postseason, to make it as far as we can,” Head Coach Alysha Overland said. “Everyone is unified, they work hard, they have each other’s backs. Every practice they come out with a lot of energy. So far it’s been really good.” 

Since a Sept. 24 match against Wenatchee, which ended in a 2-0 win for the Panthers, Moses Lake has picked up wins over Eisenhower and Eastmont while tying with Ephrata in a non-league game. While the loss to Wenatchee stung, there were some positive takeaways – the Panthers are 6-0 in the Big 9 and 9-1 overall, and the match was just the third time they’ve been held under three goals this season. 

“That was a tough one for us, but coming out of it, I think we’ve gotten stronger,” Overland said. “We know that we can compete with them, so we’re excited for when they come here, to try and show what we can do.” 

Moses Lake’s most recent win came Saturday on the road against Eastmont, a 2-1 victory over the Wildcats in overtime. Sophomore Kamery Char scored Moses Lake’s first goal of the game with a shot in the second half, though Eastmont responded to force the match to overtime – that didn’t last long, as senior Meadow Saenz scored on a penalty kick in the first five-minute frame. 

“I go up to take it and realize what’s on the line – that this could win us the game – then just stuck to my spot and kicked it,” Saenz said. 

In terms of on-field strengths as a unit, Overland noted the team’s ability to overcome various forms of adversity – whether that’s injuries, adapting to different playing surfaces or players in different spots from game to game.  

“As a team as a whole, they’ve come together very well this year,” Overland said. “They’ve been rocking it ... Every game there’s a new (player) that we’re pointing stars out to.” 

Defensively, the Mavericks have only allowed more than two goals in one game this season and have held opponents to one or fewer goals in six games.  

Sophomore Cayla Throneberry attributed the team’s early success to communicating with one another on the field. 

“We knew that was something we had to work on, and as the games have gone, the communication has gotten so much better, and you can see that,” she said. “If you watch tape from our first game you can see that things aren’t connecting, but now I think we’re starting to build that chemistry.” 

That chemistry developed over the course of the season allows players to be honest with one another for the greater good of the team, Throneberry added. 

“In the beginning, you never know if someone is going to take your advice the wrong way,” Throneberry said. “Now that we’re all getting closer as a team, we know that we can tell each other, ‘Hey, you can do this better,’ or whatever, because they can say it back it me. It all bounces off of each other.” 

Controlling the ball has been another key for the Mavericks this season, Saenz said.  

“We’ve been trying to have more control on the ball, not play as frantic,” she said. “When games get close we rush, and just start kicking the ball – we're trying to do more passing and possession of the ball to switch that. That’s really been helping us.” 

Moses Lake will make its second run through the Big 9 starting Saturday on the road against Sunnyside. The regular season concludes Nov. 2 against Eastmont. Mid-way through the league schedule, Moses Lake sits in second place of the Big 9 standings – two games back of Wenatchee and one game ahead of Eisenhower. 

The top six seeds out of the league make it to the district tournament, with the top two seeds receiving first-round byes. 

“Hopefully we take that momentum that we had and keep building on it, keep working hard and working on the little things that we’ve been missing,” Overland said. “Once all the puzzle pieces come together, I think we’ll keep going uphill from here.” 

    Moses Lake junior Amaya Perez brings the ball up the field during the Mavs’ Sept. 10 win over Othello. The Mavericks are 6-2-1 this season and second in the Columbia Basin Big 9.
  

    Moses Lake sophomore Lindsey Davis, left, looks for an open teammate to pass the ball to during a match against Othello on Sept. 10.