Shorecrest survives 3-2 - plays For State Championship Saturday

Shorecrest raced to a 2-0 halftime lead, scored again in the second half to make it 3-0, then hung on for dear life to beat the Ridgefield Spudders in the State 2A girls soccer semi-finals at Shoreline Stadium Friday night.

The Scots (19-4)  have advanced to the Championship Game, where they will face the undefeated Squalicum Storm (22-0-1) at 4pm Saturday at Shoreline Stadium. The Scots will be trying for their sixth state championship, and their first since 1995.

Sophia Viviano continued her red-hot scoring spree with the game's first goal fifteen minutes in, giving the lanky junior 31 for the season.

Senior Meghan Wicken put the Scots up 2-0 twelve minutes later on a play that was started by Aleah Redfield. Her pass to Emily Hicks wound up on Wicken's foot, who then put it past Spudder keeper Sarah Kaufman.

Wicken scored what proved to be the deciding goal fifteen minutes into the second half, and Scots fans (and, perhaps, their defense) breathed a sigh of relief.

But Ridgefield came back with a vengeance as their leading scorer Taryn Ries buried a wide open shot past Scots'  keeper Kate Wiper to make it 3-1.

Scots fans squirmed when Kara Klaus slipped one through a scrum in front of the net with 8:22 to play to make it 3-2.

After the game, the happy Scots talked about playing for a championship.

"It's super exciting," said Sophia Viviano. "This team has never played for a state championship before and now we get a chance."

Coach Mindy Dalziel had praise for Meghan Wicken. "She's been an unsung hero all season, and tonight she came up big with her goals. We know Squalicum beat us 3-0 last time, but it will be zero-zero when we kick off, and balls can bounce funny and anything can happen. All I know is, I love my team."