High 5: Washington senior Eileen Escalona Pam Pack keeper part of strong team defense

Published 8:49 am Sunday, May 18, 2025

By Jason O. Boyd

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Washington senior keeper Eileen Escalona and her teammates have been playing a lot of soccer in bad weather this week.

However, whether it’s sunny or raining, she and the Pam Pack defense are hard to score against. Washington (15-2-1) is riding an 11-game win streak after Thursday’s victory over Eastern Wayne. The opposition has only scored twice during that stretch against Escalona and the defense. They’ll look to keep that success going at home on Monday against East Duplin.

We talked with Escalona about playing in the rain, the winning streak and just how far she and her teammates can go in the state playoffs.

1. What was it like for you as far as playing in this weather?

“Honestly, I was really excited as soon as the rain came out. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, guys, it’s raining. This is my first time ever being out here. Just being with them, enjoying my time out here, it’s all I need. They determined me to do my best, and honestly, I couldn’t have been here without them.”

2. Defensively, you guys put up another great performance on Monday and Thursday. What has worked so well these last several games?

“Honestly, I think with our coach, she has taught us very well how to communicate and how to set up, how to talk better, because my freshman year, it was like I wasn’t sure how to handle the defense. It was my first time being a goalie. But over the years, I gained more experience, kind of learned how to talk to them.”

3. Obviously, your teammates scoring goals helps. You got peppered with shots a couple of times on Monday, especially in the second half. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some of them I did anticipate. I can read when they kind of do need some help sometimes.”

4. The way the team has played the last several games, the offense has looked good, but so has the defense. What has worked so well for you in those games?

“Just communication. Formation. We started new formations. We do a diamond occasionally. It’s where one of them sticks back. We sometimes tend to take over the next position. We’ve gone over this over and over during our drills, during our practices.”

5. You’ve gone through the rigors of a tough conference season. What can this team do? How much better can you play?

“I believe that we could go pretty far. I hope that we can go to the top four, the final four. I mean, that’s my goal. That would be my best senior year ever. That would make my heart warm. But I just hope that they stay locked in, stay determined like they’ve been today.”

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