For the third year in a row the Budd Bay Steelheads girls U19 rugby team were denied a state title in the Washington Youth Rugby girls final, losing a close game to rivals the Kent Crusaders.
Sunday in Redmond the Steelheads made the final by beating Lynnwood 63-0. Kelsi Stockerts scored three tries, and Erica Fife and Audie Haisch added two, while Erica Legaspia, Mika Underwood, Jel Santos and Kati Barker all added tries. Ellie Linn kicked four conversions.
But it wasn't to be in the final as Kent scored two late tries to win 10-0.
"We are very disappointed," said head coach Alex Goff. "We suffered a bit from bad luck in this game and we're more than a little frustrated. But the kids worked very hard and kept at it. Kent is three-time national #2, and we beat them twice this year, just not today."
The Budd Bay 2nd side also competed on Sunday for the stat Plate competition. in the semifinal Budd Bay and Chuckanut played to a 0-0 tie, and the game went to penalty kicks. Maria Noonan's kick won the game for Budd Bay 1-0. They went on to play Seattle in the Plate Final, where Noonan scored a late try, but Seattle scored two to win 10-5.
"We wanted two trophies out of this weekend and we got them, they just turned out to be the runner-up trophies," said Goff.
Next up for the Steelheads is a trip to Palo Alto, Calif. for the Pacific Coast Invitational May 9-11.
Budd Bay is currently 13-3, having lost to BC school champs Carson Graham, the University of Oregon, and Kent