Londyn McKenzie wasn’t messing around in the opening minutes of North Thurston’s road match against Lakes on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
The freshman striker made an immediate impact with two goals in the first five minutes, first off an assist by Lillianna Bonnin from a cross in the second minute. In the fifth minute, Elaina Brannon fed McKenzie on a through ball, and the freshman raced past her defender for a goal.
McKenzie, who notched her first career hat trick on Oct. 13 against Mount Tahoma, clinched her second in her past three games with a steal and a goal in the 62nd minute. After Lakes responded in the 66th minute with a goal, freshman Aarya Bougher nailed a 24-yard, left-footed shot.
“Great win for the ladies tonight. I thought our intensity was strong from the start, and we managed the game well from there,” North Thurston assistant coach Tristan Glaser said. “We had some real quality soccer at times and dug in and played hard defensively at other times. Not a perfect game, but lots of improvement and hopefully we can continue off of that.”
Glaser praised the defensive effort of Molly Littauer and Kendall Bamer, as well as the offensive prowess of McKenzie and Bougher. According to Glaser, McKenzie was motivated after missing a few chances last week.
“She had a few chances over the past week or so that she wanted back, and we had a chat on some things she can do when she gets in those scenarios and executed on it today,” he said.
North Thurston (4-6-2, 3-5-1 Puget Sound League), which outshot Lakes 11-6, will close out the regular season with two home matches. The Rams will host Peninsula on Thursday, Oct. 22 and River Ridge on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
