OLYMPIA, Wash. – After playing to a tie in the first half, the 24th-ranked Rocky Mountain Battlin’ Bears put a pair of second half scores on the board to spoil the Evergreen Geoducks’ season opener in a women’s soccer match on Saturday afternoon in Olympia, Wash.

Rocky’s Therese Hagbyhn opened up the scored in just the fourth minute as she won a ball from an Evergreen defender and pushed in past Geoduck keeper Kaitlin Mackenzie (Lake Stevens, Wash./Lake Stevens HS/Shoreline CC) for the 1-0 lead.

The Geoducks got the equalizer less than a minute later as Avery Cushmna (Petaluma, Calif./Casa Grande HS) fed in a ball to junior Katie Hebien (Boulder, Colo./Boulder HS), who put it past Malin Johannson for the score.

In the second half, the Battlin’ Bears retook the lead in the 63rd minute as Jaelene Gygmond gathered the ball out of a group before finishing past second-half keeper Kayla Kitts (Renton, Wash./Kentridge HS/Highline CC) for the 2-1 lead.  Rocky earned an insurance goal in the 77th minute as Hagbyhn scored her second of the afternoon on a rainbow clear that just snuck under the crossbar from about 45 yards out.

Rocky outshot the Geoducks, 27-6, on the afternoon but the two Evergreen keepers had a nice day, combining for nine saves.  The Battlin’ Bears were also whistled for offsides 11 times on the afternoon, compared with just once for the Geoducks.

Evergreen returns to action on Sep. 8 when they play host to Pacific (Ore.) in a non-conference match.  Kick with the Boxers is set for 2:00 p.m. on Evergreen Pitch in Olympia, Wash.

Box Score