Lady Vikings prepare to host postseason game

Forest Grove earns the league’s second seed for the playoffs with wins over Tigard and Canby

By Zack Palmer

The Forest Grove News-Times, Nov 5, 2009, Updated Nov 5, 2009

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Forest Grove will make its first postseason appearance in five years Saturday when the Lady Vikings host Central Catholic in the first round of the OSAA 6A girls soccer playoffs.

“This has been a remarkable season,” said Forest Grove head coach Dennis Chang, whose team shut out both Tigard and Canby last week to put the finishing touches on a second-place finish in the Pacific Conference.

“The girls are really excited. It’s great because it was a goal from early on to make the playoffs. To accomplish that was a big relief, but also to be so close to winning a conference championship, that has the girls feeling pretty good.”

Forest Grove (13-1-1, 8-1-1) blanked Tigard 3-0 last Tuesday, getting two goals in the first nine minutes from Elena Acosta and a second-half insurance goal from Brandi Dawson.

Canby played the Lady Viks tougher on Thursday, but Forest Grove broke open a close game with three second-half goals to post another 3-0 win. Acosta drilled a free kick into the upper right corner just six minutes after halftime and Dawson provided the daggers, netting goals in the 75th and 80th minutes.

Those two scores brought Dawson’s season tally to a remarkable 20 goals and 15 assists this season, and the Oregon State commit will have a chance to flash some more of her skills on Saturday when Central Catholic comes calling.

“The big difference between the two teams is that Central Catholic has the history [of playoff success], where Forest Grove doesn’t,” Chang said. “But this is an amazing group and they’re ready for the challenge.”