Lopez Lobos earn second place at state championship

by Declan O’Malley

Sounder sports contributor

The Lopez Lobos soccer team has had an incredible season, earning second place in the 2B/1B State Championship.

On Nov. 23, Lopez played the Orcas Island Vikings’ team, which came away with a 2-0 victory to take the state title.

“We had played Lopez twice already this year, splitting games with them in the regular season and in the district final. Lopez deserves a lot of credit for coming such a long way since last year, and they’ve had a great season… the best in years, or even decades, that I remember,” said Orcas Head Coach Terry Turner.

The 2024 Lopez soccer season has been the most successful in decades. The team earned the bi-district championship for the first time in 30 years on Nov. 9 after beating Orcas 1-0. With the win, Lopez secured a higher seeding in the state tournament, playing Evergreen Lutheran the next week. After that win, the team then played Orcas Island in the battle for state.

After the match, Lopez Coach Mycha Kraushaar reflected on the significance of her team’s performance in the title game.

“I wouldn’t change a thing about how we played the game, and I know they’re feeling pretty proud of how they represented their community, too,” Kraushaar said. She’s excited to see how the experience will impact local soccer in the future. “The impact on the community and overall, on the program, was massive,” she added. “And while it might not happen immediately, I’d expect to see Lopez showing up as a veritable opponent in the years to come, and it’s entirely thanks to the momentum of this junior and senior class.”