LYNDEN — Once Lynden Christian’s Demi Dykstra opened up the floodgates in the third minute, Nooksack Valley couldn’t close them back up.
The senior forward scored a career-high four goals as the Lyncs went on to defeat the Pioneers 8-0 on Monday night. The score tells a lopsided story of its own, and LC dominated possession of the ball from wire to wire.
With the win, LC secured its 10th straight victory. Lyncs’ coach Brent DeRuyter said it’s the longest streak the team has had since he has been with the program, which dates back to 2005.
“At the end of the day, this doesn’t mean anything if we’re done early [in the postseason],” DeRuyter said. “It’s really not about a streak, but it is a huge accomplishment.”
LC sophomore Grace Hintz followed up Dykstra’s goal with one of her own in the 30th minute to push LC’s lead to 2-0. The ball was rarely on the Lyncs’ side of the field, as the Pioneers had just two shots on goal the entire match.
Dykstra and senior midfielder Daisy Poag were consistently on the attack, and the chemistry between the two is part of what makes this LC team special. Poag assisted on all four of Dykstra’s goals.
“I think we just have really good chemistry,” Poag said. “It wouldn’t be [that way] if not for our defense and our center-mids that play me those good balls that I can run onto and use my speed against, to where Demi can be in that perfect position.”
Dykstra began a string of three straight goals in the 38th minute when she got her second. Her final two came in the 43rd and 51st minutes, extending LC’s lead to 6-0. The match was all but over at that point, but the Lyncs weren’t quite done.
Poag got a goal of her own in the 61st minute on a straight shot on goal.
“I think it starts from our defense all the way to our offense,” Dykstra said. “We all had a part in all those goals, it wasn’t just the person putting it in the net.”
The final score came on a penalty kick by senior defender Taryn Herwerden in the 66th minute. By that point, each goal was the icing on the cake for the Lyncs.
LC moved to 12-2-2 overall and 8-0 in Northwest Conference matches. The Lyncs have posted an unreal 64-2 point differential during their 10-game win streak. Their regular season is now over, and they will be the No. 1 seed in the 1A District 1 tournament that gets going on Thursday, Oct. 27.
NV dropped to 3-12-1 overall and 0-8 in NWC contests. The Pioneers will await their seeding in the district tournament, and will likely have to win a play-in game on Oct. 27 to make it into the main bracket.
