PLEASANT HILL – Everything was on the line at the 28-minute mark at Pleasant Hill on Monday. The Billies parents held their breath as they watched senior captain Tessa Hammond take her first steps for a corner kick.
Everything seemed still as the ball soared and pierced the Outlaws’ penalty box. A scurry of Billies offenders and Outlaw defenders tussling for the ball. Somehow in the noisy fray, junior forward Trinity Smead came in from the side and tapped the ball into the net.
The Billies had won their first game against the Outlaws in their two-year history, 1-0. The Billies lost 1-0 in a similar fashion to the Outlaws earlier this season.

#20 junior forward, Trinity Smead, was 2nd on the team last year in goals scored. She had a great off-season with strength conditioning and remains a vital part of the Billies’ 2024 season.
McKENZIE DAYS
/ CHRONICLE PHOTO
“Honestly, we felt like we probably should have won that first game at Sisters,” head coach Chris Hammond said. “We had double their shots on goal, double their corners, and after that, the girls began to believe that, ‘Okay, we can beat good opponents. We don’t have to be intimidated because they’ve beaten us so many times.’ So even though we lost 1-0 up there, it was a moral victory. So they believed this game was theirs from the get-go. They knew that they could win this game. They went out and did. I’m so proud of them.”
The Billies have struggled against the Outlaws since the Outlaws became a new opponent in 2022 when they dropped to Class 3A. Until Monday, their record against them was 0-2-3. In 2023, Sisters made it to the state semifinals and ended their season #4 in 3A.
After Smead’s goal, the Billies played tough defense, led by center-back senior Ellie Epperson and junior GK Kenna Caldwell, who had seven saves.