As girls soccer wraps up another successful regular season in Wesco, they will head into the district playoffs looking to qualify for State yet again. Standout performances have really come from everyone, as well soccer is a team sport. But perhaps one player in particular, freshman Lilly Burris, has turned some heads with her goal-scoring abilities.
Going into freshman year is difficult enough, but on top of that managing high school with varsity soccer on a team with always high expectations is a challenge most wouldn’t dare to do, or simply couldn’t do. Lilly often doesn’t find time for homework because of her involvement with soccer, but she doesn’t worry too much as she does her homework at night. Doing homework after a cold, wet, rainy night in Mountlake Terrace and a hard-fought win for example takes someone special.
Lilly’s Shorewood Soccer career got off to a start at the first Captain’s practice, where she turned the heads of many, including senior leading goal scorer Abbey Lee, who, like Lilly, was also a freshman on varsity. “I was impressed by Lilly on day one Captains practice, as a freshman coming onto the team can be nervous, but she has taken on her role really well.” Lee says. Since then, Lilly has grown into a key piece of the team, a key piece in the front line, and solidified a starting spot on the team.
Her goal-scoring abilities first came to show when she picked up a goal in Shorewood’s 11-0 thrashing of Lynnwood. But the next game, described by Lilly to be one of her favorite games, was an intense 1-0 win vs rivals Shorecrest in which she scored the only goal. “The goal felt good, I wasn’t expecting it, but it was such a cool moment celebrating the goal with the team.” Burris says. This goal came in the early part of the game where she scored with a first-time shot into the corner. Shorewood was able to hold on to the lead, winning the game at a key time of the season, moving Shorewood up into 1st place in the division.
The expectations going into every Shorewood soccer season are high, having qualified for state 3 seasons in a row. But even with these expectations, Lilly says “we have achieved more than our expectations.” as Shorewood has remained near the top of the league table throughout the whole season. Picking up key wins vs. top-of-the-table rivals such as Shorecrest, Archbishop Murphy, and Edmonds-Woodway.
Lilly has contributed 3 goals to the team throughout the regular season, becoming the second-highest-scoring freshman in the division and, most importantly, helping Shorewood stay near the top of the standings. Shorewood now looks forward to the Wesco playoffs, playing their first playoff game at 5:30 pm on Saturday, November 2nd, at the Shoreline Stadium, which they hope to breeze through on the way to another State appearance.
