It was a historical season on the pitch for the MacArthur High School (MHS) girls soccer team as their season was highlighted by a City Championship, a District Championship, and a run to the OSSAA 5A State Championship game that saw them come home with a runner-up finish. While the Lady Highlanders’ season did not end in a win, the campaign was still full of highlights that the 2025 squad can be proud of when they look back at the memories they made for themselves and the MAC faithful.
The MHS girls earned the right to host their first round playoff games finishing first in their district with a 7-0 record. Both the girls and boys hosted Classen SAS for the first ever playoff soccer games on a Lawton Public Schools’ (LPS) campus thanks to the updated facilities at MHS and the other three LPS high schools. The MAC girls got off to a great start, pushing the tempo early in the match. The scoring started with a great run by sophomore Emma Hart, who placed the ball just over the outstretched arms of the opposing keeper to make it 1-0 with 11:30 left in the opening half. It was quickly 2-0 for the Lady Highlanders when junior Barlee Hastie found sophomore Naleah Cordes in the middle of the field. After carrying their 2-0 lead into halftime, the Lady Highlanders added to their lead halfway through the second. Freshman Allena Cotanny stole the ball away from the defense, eluded a couple of opponents and found Cordes, who made a move of her own before firing the ball into the right side of the goal for her second of the game and the team’s third. MacArthur did a great job by keeping Classen out of the box for most of the game as they cruised to the 3-0 win to advance to the quarterfinals.
After their win over Classen SAS, the Lady Highlanders drew a matchup with Booker T. Washington in the quarterfinals, again at Highlander Stadium on the east side of Lawton. This was about as even a match as you could find, with the MHS great attacking offense and the Hornets’ defense and great keeper play. Fast-forward to the end of the second overtime and the game was still scoreless, forcing penalty kicks to decide who would advance to the semifinal match. Cordes got the home team started by making the opening kick and then a miss by Booker T. gave MHS the early advantage. A great stop by the Hornet keeper in the next round kept them in it. The two teams traded scores in the next three rounds with MAC getting scores from junior Lillian Smith, Hastie, and senior Aspen Edwards. With the game on the line, Booker T. missed their fourth kick wide of the goal, giving MHS the 4-3 win in PK’s to punch their ticket to the State semifinal game.
Next up for MacArthur was a visit to Highlander Stadium by the Coweta Lady Tigers, both teams trying to reach the 5A State Championship Game. Coweta got their one and only goal of the game just six minutes into the game off a corner kick. After going into the half down 1-0, the Lady Highlanders came out swinging to start the second, getting their first and only goal of the game three minutes into the second 40 minutes. Cordes made a nice run on the home sideline and then crossed it into the box, where junior Ellana Burk finished it off to tie the match. Both teams kept pushing their own temp, but when the clock hit zeros it was still 1-1. Like just a few days prior, two overtimes were not enough to make the decision so the match went to penalty kicks. The Lady Tiger’s keeper made a great save on the first MHS kick and they scored on their first kick to give them the advantage. Cotanny and Smith answered with makes of their own before a Coweta kick off the top crossbar evened things out. Hastie and Edwards punched their shots in to make it 4-3. On the following Coweta kick, the ball soared right of the goal and gave the Lady Highlanders a 2-1 win to advance once again via penalty kicks, making even more history as the first LPS soccer team to make the State Championship game. Their reward for the win was a meeting with Bishop Kelley in the final on the campus of Rogers State University.
The excitement on the east side of town stretched all across Lawton as they prepared for the State Championship game. The other LPS high schools and fans shared out social media congratulations and good lucks, MacArthur High School has a big send off parade through the halls that ended with the team being escorted out of town by a law enforcement, and the girls were followed on the over three hour journey to Claremore by a great fan base. They would face a Bishop Kelley team who had dominated their competition in the playoffs and most of the regular season. They entered the game on a 6-match winning streak, all of which were shutouts; after starting the season with four straight losses, they were 13-1 with their only loss coming to Coweta (1-0 in overtime). After having to travel just 32 minutes, Bishop Kelley needed just over five minutes to get their scoring going against the Highlanders. From there it was all Comets as they scored five more goals before the half and then added four more in the second to win the State Championship.
While the final result was not ideal, the journey to it was amazing and historic for the Lady Highlanders. They have a lot to be proud of with multiple Oklahoma Soccer Coaches Association (OSCA) All-State honors. Edwards, along with fellow seniors Ella Isackson and Avery Doughty were All-State selections with senior Jaycee Seaton being named Honorary All-State and Layla Mosby Honorable Mention. Additionally, Cordes, Burk, Seaton, Smith, and Moseby were named first team All-District and the coaching staff of Nate Inger, Marcus Williams and Aaron Bear were honored as the District Coaching Staff of the Year. The future is bright with players like Hastie, Cordes, Cotanny, Smith, freshman Brinlee Clark, and others returning, and the expectation is another great run in 2026.