HILLSBORO — The La Grande High School girls soccer team fell behind early and couldn’t find a spark on offense, losing 5-0 to Marist Catholic in the 4A championship game Saturday, Nov. 16.

The Tigers settled for the second-place trophy and silver medals on a rainy, 42-degree night on an increasingly soggy field at Liberty High School. The team finishes the season with a 14-2-1 record. The runner-up finish is the team’s best since 2013, when the Tigers also lost in the championship game.

For the Marist Spartans of Eugene (17-1-1), the state title is the team’s second in three years; last year, the Spartans fell in the championship game against North Marion. (The Tigers defeated North Marion 1-0 in this year’s semifinals.)

Tiger goalkeeper Lyndie Isaacson, a senior, was named the player of the game for the Tigers. The Spartans’ Libby McLaughlin, who scored three goals and notched an assist, was named the player of the game for her team.

Isaacson kept the Tigers in the game for a time, and ended up with nine saves for the night. But the dam began to break at the 9:15 mark in the first period when the Spartans’ Ella Braunger buried a pass from McLaughlin into the left corner of the net.

The Spartans scored again at the 35:51 mark of the first period when a pass from Kate Firth bounced over the head of Isaacson, who had come out from the net to try to grab the pass. McLaughlin zipped by the goalkeeper to score her first goal of the game. 

Three minutes later, Ella Shepard scored the Spartans’ third goal on an assist by Mattie Andrus.

McLaughlin added a pair of the goals in the second period to put the game away; Gina Schroffner earned the assist on both goals.

The Tigers were unable to get any offense going against the Spartans’ defense and failed to record a shot during the game. The Spartans had 22 shots; 14 of them were on goal. The Spartans also had 10 corner kicks to the Tigers’ two.

The Tigers graduate five seniors from the state runner-up team: In addition to Isaacson, the team loses Paige Allen, Nora Gisi, Sarah Garwood and Natasha Lane.