Kentridge girls soccer drops points at Auburn Riverside
Published 9:37 am Wednesday, September 24, 2025
There are a lot of new faces on the 2025 Kentridge High School girls soccer team and they are still searching for that magic solution as they fell 2-1 to the Auburn Riverside Ravens on Sept. 24 at Auburn Riverside.
The Chargers and Ravens entered with the same number of wins as the other side — zero — in league play so far.
Kentridge’s quest for their first league win will continue, but head coach Jeff Fleming is seeing his side improving night in and night out.
“We are getting better every week, for sure. It is a learning process because they’re new, in terms of starting at varsity as a group. For three years we had a back four that was in place for three years,” Fleming said.
Last season, the Chargers reached the quarterfinals and fell 4-0 to the state runner-up Woodinville. From that roster, 10 seniors graduated. Anytime 10 players graduate, the beginning of that next season is going to take a while to get going.
Especially on defense, where for the past three years, the starting backline has played multiple years together. This year’s defensive unit is still learning how to play together.
“It’s a learning experience, how we pressure, how we cover. Where we go positionally, what foot speed does that player have. What kind of stop and start does that player have. So it’s all learning,” Flemming said.
Auburn Riverside scored the game’s first goal in the 27th minute of the first half, after a good spell of play. The Chargers went into halftime down 1-0, but right out of the break, they got the spark they were looking for.
One of the few returners, sophomore Natalia Krall-Cruz, has game altering abilities. After missing a handful of games with an injury, her return caused lots of problems for that Riverside defense.
In the 42nd minute, Krall-Cruz was sprung free and used that top end speed to beat the Ravens’ back line and snuck the ball past Sydney Winters in goal.
“She had a great game, she was fantastic. They were marking her and watching her. Her speed can be awesome,” Flemming said. “She’s a dominant player when she is on the field.”
The Chargers kept the game level for just one minute in the second half and on their second corner of the second half, Auburn Riverside took the lead.
Including the loss to Auburn Riverside, four of the five losses Kentridge has taken this year are by a single goal. The 4A NPSL is no joke, with not many “easy” games, and every team seemingly has a chance to make a run at the top spot. For the reigning league champs, success can be as simple as playing with more confidence than they did they day before.
“I want confidence that they believe they can win. … We just need to build confidence, probably get up early. That makes sense for us, to get that confidence,” Flemming said.
Kentridge takes on Auburn on the road on Sept. 25 before an all important first meeting with Tahoma on Sept. 30.
