A need for speed led Bainbridge girls soccer coach Katie Drovdahl to promote freshman Magda Rufo-Hill to varsity for the Spartans first matches of October.

“She’s been playing amazing on JV,” Drovdahl said. “She’s really fast and dangerous on the wings, so I called her up. It’s what soccer’s about, getting the opportunity to show up for the team.”

She had no idea how quickly that move would pay off. Two days after netting her first varsity goal in a 7-0 blowout of North Mason, Rufo-Hill would further prove her coach right in a high-stakes match Oct. 3 against North Kitsap. After 80 minutes of stalemate regulation soccer, Bainbridge would be the first to touch the ball in overtime.

It took just 16 seconds from there for Rufo-Hill to break the tie. “I made my run down the side, and the pass deflected off the defender and went past her,” the freshman said. “I just started running at it as hard as I could.”

The sprint for the ball beat the covering Vikings defender and goalie, her shot never leaving the turf as it rolled just enough to break the plane of the net. It would stand as the Spartans first and only goal of the match, giving Rufo-Hill a night to remember and her team sole possession of first place in the Olympic League. “I was so happy,” she said. I don’t even know what else to say.”

The Oct. 3 match in Poulsbo was just the second time this season Bainbridge had been held to one goal or less, Drovdahl saying it was hard to find a clear path to the goal even with her newly acquired speed. “They were able to neutralize us, which has not happened too often,” the coach said. “So we had to look to try to combine more through the midfield, but they were really great at pressuring the ball. We really had to fight for it tonight.”

NK was inches away from gaining the upper hand in the first half, a free kick from Gonzaga commit Selena Hogan sailing just high of the net and bouncing back into play off the crossbar.

The pair are scheduled to meet on the same pitch again Oct. 29.