Once again, as it is every year, the two top teams faced off with a #1-ranking on the line. East High faced the Gillette Camels at Okie Blanchard on Friday April 7, with the top ranking up for grabs. The energy was plain from the very beginning as sophomore forward Sydney Miller had some amazing scoring chances putting in a goal in the 15th minute. Camels’ goalkeeper Christina Lacek dove in an attempt to deflect the ball, but Miller rocketed the shot past Lacek putting the T-Birds up, 1-0.

Senior Jessie Erickson also had an outstanding performance with two goals. Her first one came off a Miller assist at the 52nd minute mark. Her second one was a free kick at the 53rd minute as she slipped the ball over the goalkeeper to put East up 2-0.

“I took the kick really fast and was trying to kick it to the far post, but I didn’t hit the ball the way I wanted to,” Erickson said in an interview with WyoSports.net. “Thankfully, it went in. It was pretty lucky, but I’ll take it.”

East senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Paintner stopped five shots, and her defense stood strong and kept Gillette’s attacks under control.

“We pressured hard and we played hard,” T-Birds coach Jim Gardner said in the same interview. “We talked a lot about always playing the best we can and the hardest we can. You can’t always control the outcome, but you can control the way you play, and I was very happy with our effort.”

The T-Birds viewed Friday’s contest as a guideline for where they are in the season.

“We really wanted to win this match, and we played with a lot of intensity,” said Makayla Eatmon in WyoSports.net. “We played really hard and worked well together.”