The Seattle Christian Warriors continue to keep the ball rolling in girls soccer as this traditional 1A power had a good showing to open up state tournament play, blasting Onalaska, 4-0, in a first round match at Foster High School Wednesday.

Showing up for a game is something the Warriors have done most of the time this season. They took first place in their Nisqually League with an 11-0-1 (14-3-1 overall) mark. That is an excellent league win-loss record for the Warriors. Playing outside of their league has been a little rougher, losing to Fife, which is 2A, so that’s not bad actually since a higher classification team beat them. The Warriors also lost to Auburn- Mountainview, a playoff-caliber 3A team, and the latest loss was to a staunch Seattle Academy team in a district postseason game, 2-1.

“They were three very good teams,” said Melissa Bennett, co-coach with Kendra Walker for the Warriors.

Auburn-Mountainview made the postseason and lost its opening playoff quarterfinal while Fife won it’s opener, and Seattle Academy only lost one time this whole season in the district championship game played after beating SCS.

“Sometimes we show up and play great and other times we don’t show up,” said Bennett, a fourth-year coach for the Warriors. Bennett showed up all the Nisqually League in her time, setting the record in goals for a season and a four-year career. But here’s a player that may give her some competition in that department.

Budding sophomore star Terrika Weaver scored the only goal of the first half against Onalaska, taking a Sara Tripoli pass and being fouled in the box, scoring the penalty kick to make it, 1-0, SCS.

Bennett called that goal kind of like all the presents expected for people everywhere this coming holiday season.

The Warriors showed up in the second half with three goals. But it took some time, maybe some coaxing, as junior captain Allison Mitchell, playing in the back as the team’s sweeper, shouted “Let’s go, white. Let’s go” when the score was still 1-0 and 10 minutes were off the second half clock.

Weaver must have heard the cajoling of her captain as Weaver put the ball on the post with a rocket shot from the corner of the 18-yard box before she then scored her second goal of the game five minutes later, at the 25 minute mark. Using her blazing speed, she dribbled by a couple Onalaska defenders 35 yards straightaway from the goal, cutting with the ball superbly into the 18-yard box circle. Then she zipped to a one-on-one with the keeper who came out of goal desperately to try and save the shot to keep this game close and keep hope alive for her team’s post season. But Weaver smashed a shot in a fluid motion that was picture-perfect -- a low, line drive into the right corner to make it 2-0.

“She gets almost a goal a game,” said Bennett. “She’s done well.”

Weaver said she is enjoying playing on this team with good players passing her the ball like Madeline Nielsen, a sophomore, too, as well as freshman Madison Hibbard and Tripoli. Those are a few of the players that helped Weaver get her 30 goals, also known as giving her assists.

“We are very supportive of one another,” said Weaver. “When we have injuries, we help each other know with physical therapy, 15 minutes ice, 15 minutes heat....”

Weaver said she’s been battling a hamstring injury and other teammates have had knee and shin splint injuries.

This year has been a good season despite injuries as Bennett and Walker still found the combinations around the injuries to have another great, successful season.

The third Warriors goal came from junior Chanelle Huffman, who crossed the ball into the middle that Hibbard took out of the air, with her head, beautifully, to redirect the sphere into the right upper vee and make it 3-0. Weaver scored her third goal, the fourth and last goal of this game, with four minutes left. She took the ball forward dribbling from the last third of the field, splitting defenders, en route to getting in the 18-yard box again for a 1-on-1 situation with the Onalaska keeper. Her next move was fluidly depositing the ball into the left corner for a 4-0 lead.

Onalaska provided very little threats in this game except the last two minutes as the Warriors’ keeper, Hannah Kane, then made two saves. She, by the way, takes the place now of her all-league sister, Jessica, who started four years for the Warriors, including saving a couple huge shots in a shoot-out win over Kings in 2006 that led to another Warriors state championship.

“We’ve lost four starters and six seniors total,” said Bennett. “We lost our great keeper, but her sister is now in goal doing a great job for us.”

The Warriors have 12 shutouts this season, thanks to Hannah, as well as those in the back like junior captain Mitchell playing sweeper. Flanking her on the full back sides, senior captain Mandy Zebarth, and junior Riley Phelps.

The Warriors, defensively, kept Onalaska from any serious threats, Kane couldn’t be anything but bored for all but the last two minutes already spoke of in the second half. SCS received nice passing all over the field that had Onalaska trying to just get a touch on the ball as the Warriors triangularly passed it to all parts of the field and opposite-field balls freezing them in time and causing much confusion, especially as the Warriors loosed up more in the second half with scores.

The machine just keeps on churning for this SCS girls soccer team that does have the best record in the state the last four years placement wise: first, second, third and quarterfinalist.