The Tigard girls soccer team found itself in an unusual position last season when it finished with a losing record.
The Tigers went 4-8-4 last year, finishing with a losing record for just the second time since the shortened COVID season.
This year, Tigard has bounced back early, already matching last season’s win total, and the Tigers are unbeaten in their first six games. They sit at 4-0-2 as of our press deadline.
What makes the hot start even more impressive is that just six of Tigard’s 21 players are seniors this year. There are also just six juniors, meaning nearly half the team is made up of sophomores and a few freshmen.
“We do have a completely different team from like past years,” said Ella Naser, one of the team’s senior captains. “We have a really young team. We’re getting along really well, and we’re building really good team chemistry. Our season so far has gone really well. I’m super proud of us.”
Samantha Mao, another senior captain, said the team came into the season specifically looking to build that chemistry.
“We all like being together,” she said. “That’s the most important part, and we work hard on that on the field, and we work on our relationships off the field also.”
The 4-0-2 start is Tigard’s best since the Tigers opened the 2023 season 8-0-1.
Head Coach Scott Eggleston is seeing the team’s chemistry help them out on the field early in the year. Tigard had a rare Monday game scheduled at Westview earlier this season. The game was scoreless for nearly an hour when sophomore Miriya Kira, another team captain, flicked in a shot with 20:32 left in the game.
“We knew this was going to be a tough one, especially on a Monday,” Eggleston said. “Coming off the weekend and then having a Monday game, the players weren’t looking forward to that, but the overall connection between this group is great. They just grinded together to get this win. That’s what this was. That was a grinding win.”
So far this year, Mia Newton has been leading the way on offense for the Tigers as their leading goal scorer.
“She’s a great striker,” Eggleston said. “She’s got at least four goals already this year for us. She gives us that presence and that threat. She’s always going to find the ball.”
Eggleston also praised some other attacking players for their play this season.
“We’ve got Makayla (Minick) on the outside and Mia (Sadek) on the outside with Miriya at the 10-spot. That’s a formidable attacking four up top. They’re always pressing and pressing, so they all give each other a lot of support. That makes it easy for the rest of them.”
The defense is anchored by Naser, who was named to the All-Three Rivers League First Team last year as a junior.
“She’s a top elite player in the state,” Eggleston said. “She’s got great support with (Adaline) Ransom and (Amelia) Shelby and Everley (Yi). I’m really happy with how all four of them are playing.”
He also said Yi played especially well in the Westview win.
“Everly, our left back, played phenomenal,” he said. “She gave us that extra offensive threat. It was not just on defense. She was making overlap runs and looked great in space.”
Eggleston said goalie Brianna Burum has also played well, helping Tigard get off to such a good start to the season. She had a few big saves in the Westview win to keep the game winnable for the Tigers.
“She rose to the moment,” Eggleston said. “She had some big moments, and we talk about this as a team. You have got to win the big moments.”
He added that he thinks the team’s belief in each other is going to be a big factor for the Tigers the rest of the way this season.
“You can play back, play forward, or play however when you trust each other in tough moments,” he said. “It’s hard to get through the high school healthy, so when you have that connection piece, it goes far.”
