The Juanita Bees, a girls U18 team in the Lake Washington Youth Soccer Association (LWYSA), recently took home the District 2 championship medals with a 2-1 win over the Redmond Dolphins at Eastlake High.

The Bees went into halftime with the lead as Emily Nikolai found the back of the net assisted by Roxanne Taggart about 25 minutes into the contest. After the Dolphins equalized in the second half, the Bees’ Samantha Henry weaved through five defenders before unleashing a powerful shot from the top of the goal box with about 15 minutes left, turning out to be the game winner.

Defenders Natalie Sauze, Ashley Allen and Rebecca Winkler along with keeper Katelyn Higgins led the Bee defense through an intense finish, turning back multiple shots on goal to hold on for the victory.

This marks the fifth consecutive year the Juanita Bees have won the District 2 title. They will now move on to the state level of play at the Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila in mid-December.

The Bees are a team made up of Juanita High-area girls and are coached by Chris Burke and Nelson Taggart. Many have been playing together for more than 10 years.