All goals achieved by Camas

In a season full of milestones, the Camas High School girls soccer team achieved its biggest goal Saturday by becoming state champions.

“It’s a dream come true,” said senior and co-captain Sabine Postma. “It’s what we wanted from the beginning of the season, and we made it happen.”

The Papermakers defeated West Valley, Yakima, 3-0 Saturday, at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. Together, they mustered up all the strength they had left to hoist up the big trophy and sing the Camas fight song.

“Singing together and coming together as a group, and that giant big hug at the end,” Postma said. “It was amazing.”

Head coach Roland Minder watched the celebration with a big smile on his face. He said this is the best high school soccer team in Camas history.

“Best team, the closest team, best chemistry and performance wise in every aspect,” Minder added. “I am so proud of all of them.”

The victory for Camas was textbook. Score a goal early, play stalwart defense and kick a few more goals in during the second half to seal the deal.

Maddie Kemp finished off a nice run and pass by Perri Belzer to get the Papermakers on the board in the seventh minute. It was her 31st goal of the season.

“They left Perri open and she delivered a perfect ball through,” Kemp said. “Not too hard, not too soft. It was great on her part.”

Postma gave the Papermakers some room to breathe when she ripped in a goal from 30 yards out at the midway point in the second half.

“I took a touch and said, ‘You’re going to hit it as hard as you can.’ And it went in. I was so proud.”

Morgan Winston fired in the final goal from 25 yards away. Just a few minutes later, Camas was the last team standing in the state.

“This is probably the cherry on top of everything,” said senior defender Marley LeFore. “We all wanted it so bad. Getting third last year was disappointing. We had that chip on our shoulder and just wanted to get back here and finish what we started.”

The final numbers for this Camas soccer team are staggering: 89 goals scored, only two given up, 21 victories, 20 shut outs and a state championship to boot.

“Best team ever represents it, but I also think just the relationships everyone has with each other,” Belzer said. “It’s unbelievable. We’re all so close, best friends, sisters, all that. I think that ties into being the best team because we all work for each other.”