Soccer: Highlanders bounce back and down Renton

Hazen High School girls soccer got back in the win column after a tough 1-0 loss to Tahoma last week with a 4-0 win Sept. 17 over their crosstown rival, Renton Redhawks.

This year marks the second consecutive year the Highlanders have played Renton on the pitch, with Hazen winning both matchups convincingly (5-0, 2023). But prior to these last two years, the last time the two sides met was back in 2015, with Hazen winning 8-2. Renton’s last victory over Hazen goes back a few years to 2013, back when both sides were in the SeaMount League. Renton defeated the Highlanders 4-2 that year.

This year, it was all Hazen and was clear from the start that the Highlanders were the better side early on.

“We know we have to prepare and getting ready for league. It doesn’t matter who we play now, we are getting ready for the next game,” Manager Breann Vanden Bos said.

Hazen’s forwards were having their way — sophomore Zoe Wong and Nika Roshak were routinely making runs behind the Redhawks’ backline and finding lots of space.

In the 16th minute, Wong capitalized on her space and time and was able to score the first goal of the game — and reward her team for the work that they were putting in. Wong then found the back of the net four minutes later for her second goal of the game.

“She is maturing and getting comfortable in her own skin,” Vanden Bos said.

This goal was put in question as Wong was in an offside position, but the ball was deflected by a Renton defender who played her onside. But Hazen was up two goals within the first 20 minutes of the game.

Vanden Bos has seen her sophomore, who is listed as a midfielder but played more like a forward against Renton, take significant strides in her second year: ”She could do that as a freshman, but she was just too timid and nervous. Now she is just doing what she has been capable of since I have known her,” Vanden Bos.

Hazen kept the pressure on, and in the final minutes of the half, found their way onto the scoreboard again. Hazen senior Callie San Jule made her mark on the scorer’s sheet as she netted the Highlanders’ third goal of the half.

With three goals in the first half, Hazen made their mark on the game and put this game well out of Renton’s reach. But the score could have been much worse if it wasn’t due to Zitlaly Valeriano-Reyes in goal for the Redhawks.

“She was phenomenal. That was the best I have ever seen her. I am incredibly impressed with how she played. I am looking forward to see how she does the rest of the season,” Vanden Bos.

Hazen scored one goal in the second half off the right foot of Celeste Drumm in the 52nd minute, but it wasn’t due to lack of trying. The Highlanders peppered Valeriano-Reyes the entire second half with shot after shot. Aside from the Drumm goal, Valeriano-Reyes rose to the occasion. She made impressive saves, driving to her left and right, and when the Highlanders were on the breakaway, she timed the close out perfectly. It was a goalkeeping master class in the second half.

“That was phenomenal,” Vanden Bos said.

Renton girls soccer opens up league play with Interlake on Sept. 19 while the Highlanders take on Cedarcrest on the road on Sept. 19. “It is a different type of team than I have coached the last five years. They are confident and ready to go. With the new league, I think will give us a chance to show what we are really capable of,” Vanden Bos said. “They are very confident and know they can compete. They believe in themselves and that is the key.”