Not very often in the landscape of college sports do we see local high school stars play close to home.
That is exactly what senior forward Maddy Lasher did. Lasher was a two-sport athlete at Post Falls High School for her first two years of high school before making the decision to transfer to North Idaho soccer powerhouse Lake City Timberwolves.
Lasher liked her decision to transfer.
“I transferred because I wanted to play soccer somewhere with a better soccer environment,” Lasher said.
Lasher thrived at Lake City, scoring 18 goals and five assists in her junior season, leading her to be nominated for the all-state first team in 2018 and Lake City to a third-place finish in the state tournament.
Lasher backed up her 18 goals in her junior year with 22 goals her senior season. She also bagged 10 assists to put her Lake City total to 40 goals and 15 assists in two seasons. Lasher would get first team all-state again and be awarded the Inland Empire League MVP in 2019.
Lasher, while at Lake City, committed to the University of Idaho mainly because of her family.
“I’m super close to my family, so I wanted to go somewhere that they were able to come watch me, and I could also drive home if I wanted to,” Lasher said.
Although Lasher had a stellar two-year career at Lake City, her favorite moment of her high school career happened while she was still at Post Falls.
“My best moment was at Post Falls. We beat the number one or number two seed to make it into state, and we upset that team and kicked them out of the running for state, so that was a really good underdog moment,” Lasher said.
Lasher, along with her great high school career, also had a solid club career playing for the Spokane Sounders, joining her future and current teammate, senior midfielder Margo Schoesler.
Lasher was a part of a Sounders team who won second at the state tournament, regional club league champions and was the Las Vegas Showcase champions.
Lasher began her Idaho career in the 2020 season where she scored her first and second career goals against Portland State.
“My most memorable goal will always be my first goal that I scored,” Lasher said.
Lasher ended her freshman season with three goals and zero assists. In her sophomore season, Lasher tallied four goals and three assists.
She followed that up with her best season as a Vandal with four goals and four assists in her junior season. Coming into her senior season, there were big expectations for Lasher. However, through injury, Lasher has been out most of the 2023 season and only has one goal and one assist so far to take her total to 12 goals and eight assists in her Vandal career.
On the field, Lasher has grown significantly as a player, but she has also grown off the field. Former captain and teammate Savannah Foster has seen Lasher’s growth over the years.
“When Lash was voted captain alongside me, she was young, which is a true testament to her character on and off the field,” Foster said. “But being young makes leading somewhat difficult. She always led by example, but over the years, especially during injury, she grew into her role as a captain and started leading the team in all aspects of the game.”
“My favorite thing about Lash? What’s not to love about her? Lash is just so much fun to be around, you can always count on having a good time with her,” Foster said.
Junior midfielder Annika Farley said, “I love Maddy. I would say she is extremely hard working on and off the field. Off the field, I trust her. She’s a great leader and someone that everyone looks up to.”
Outside of soccer, Lasher enjoys barbecuing with her roommates.
“I’m very simple. We always have barbecues at our house and that’s one of my favorite things to do, especially when it’s sunny,” Lasher said.
Lasher and the Vandals have a bye in the first round of the Big Sky tournament next week. They’ll face the winner of #3 Portland State and #6 Idaho State.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on X @JaydenBarfuss10