A dominant charge to state and a move to the final four of Class 2A gets the Pella girls soccer team to No. 7 on the countdown of top stories from 2022-23.

Many of the dramatics required to advance in regional final games’ past were not needed as the #4 Pella girls soccer team flexed their muscle in a 5-0 win over Fort Madison on May 25th. The victory earned the Dutch their 14th ever state soccer trip and first since 2019. Pella did not wait terribly long to start the scoring, as Abby Warner found her first goal in the 18th minute. That was followed up by another Warner goal just a few minutes later, and three different Dutch, including Lauren Mace, Kaylee Van Polen, and Lizzie Neumann, built an insurmountable lead before halftime.

The team went on to win their opening round game over ADM on May 31st in a 1-0 thriller. While the teams played to a draw for most of the first half, older sister Mia had a long-range assist to younger sister Abby with :19 before the halftime break. It was the only goal the Dutch defense needed. Pella’s final game of 2023 came in a 1-0 loss to Waverly-Shell Rock in the final four two days later.