The girls soccer team (9–1) defeated the Tuscarora Titans 4–2 on Tuesday night.

The Vikings did as they usually do, scoring early goals and coasting to victory. Whitman came out cool, calm and collected, and it was clear the Titians were scared of the back-to-back state champions. The Vikes’ first goal came from senior Kate Stricker in the 14th minute, when the teams pushed the ball into the box as no one could gain control. The ball trickled over to Stricker, who put the ball into the bottom left of the net. Sophomore Kennedy Eva-Buckner was the second goalscorer of the night, with a perfectly placed ground ball that snuck past the keeper on the left side. The last goal of the half was from junior Faith Gardner-Johnston, as the Whitman offense worked hard to get the ball in front so she could use her intense speed to run the ball down. Johnston then had a one-on-one with the goal line and popped it over. The ball slowly bounced into the net pushing the score to 3–0 going into halftime. The Vikes left the field with smiles and dancing on the sidelines, knowing another win was within reach and highly probable. 

Gardner-Johnston reflects on her quick decisions and how her Whitman teammates set up the goal perfectly. 

“I got a really good ball from Isabella (Fezza) that split the defenders, and I just ran onto the ball,” said Gardner-Johnston. “She was coming at me fast, so I knew I had to shoot it, I chipped it over her head.”

The team’s smiles quickly turned into a game face when the Titans scored their first goal by chaos to the left of the goal. The ball dribbled out while a Titian player quickly squeezed the ball past the goalkeeper to make the score 3–1. The Vikes immediately locked back in and got an astonishing goal coming from sophomore Aliya Wales. Junior Evelyn Javers passed the ball to Wales on a corner kick, who controlled it at the top of the box and splashed an impressive goal over the top of the goalkeeper. At this point, there was not enough time left for the Titans to try and make a late comeback. Despite this, Tuscarora seemed to start being more physical and racked up multiple penalties. The Titans finished the game with one more goal in the late meaningless stages. The game ended 4–2 in favor of the Vikes.

Whitman will take on the Albert Einstein Titans (5–2–1) this Friday for their last regular season game.