Shorecrest and Shorewood girls soccer teams face an uphill climb

By Frank Workman

Both Shorecrest and Shorewood's girls soccer teams are facing an uphill climb when they play for the District One  2A and 3A championships, respectively, on Saturday.

The T-Birds (10-5-3) square off against a powerful Edmonds-Woodway (14-3-1) at Arlington HS at 7 PM for the 3A championship.

The Warriors sport four Division-1 players on their roster. While the two teams dueled to a 2-2 draw on October 27, the explosiveness of the Warriors' attack makes them a threat to score on every possession, and it will be all the T-Birds can do to hold University of North Carolina-bound junior Maddie Schultz in check.

But T-Birds coach Bill Wilkins has a hard-earned reputation as a master tactician and it wouldn't come as a huge surprise if he's able to come up with a game plan that will help his Shorewood team bring home the District Championship. A win for the T-Birds would find them hosting a first round State tournament game - a loss sends them on the road to an as-yet-undetermined site.

The 15-3 Scots have an even taller task ahead of them. The Squalicum Storm come into Shoreline Stadium for the 6pm 2A Championship Game sporting a near-perfect 17-0-1 record and the #1 ranking in the state (as per the Seattle Times). The Storm is led by a pair of midfielders with college scholarships already wrapped up in Michelle Saunders (BYU-Hawaii) and Julia DeVere (SPU). Squalicum has outscored its opponents by an impressive 67-8 margin, including 11 shutouts.

The Scots hope their rigorous schedule of 'playing up' all season against their 3A WESCO opponents has left them battle-tested to go up against the #1 team in the state.

Junior forward Sophia Viviano has led the Scots with her 24 goals, while Coach Mindy Dalziel has enjoyed solid defense from seniors Alex Murphy, MacKenzie Parry, Kayla Holland and junior Sydney Coe, to go along with outstanding mid-field play from junior Alexa Iacolucci.

Before the Squalicum/Shorecrest match at 6, Burlington-Edison plays Sehome at Shoreline Stadium, to determine the 3rd and 4th place State qualifiers.

Win or lose, the Scots will host a first round 2A State tournament game next week.