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| Top row (l-r) JV Coach Nicolette Bender, Evan Bachler, Maggie Alonzo, Diana Tuilevuka, Madeleine Brouillard, Alivia Berry, Varsity Coach Brooke Pingrey Middle (l-r) Reese Johnson, Amelia Severn, Marieka Staheli, Paige Petschl, Sophie Schindler, Abbey Lee, AnaLeah Gonzalez, Ky Smith Front (l-r) McKenna Anderson, Scarlett VonGunten, Alia Lowden, Maggie Mauney, Jasmine Lumbera; Not Pictured: SW AD Joann Fukuma, Frankie Lara |
Shorewood High School’s girls varsity soccer team put on a sparkling performance last Thursday night in balmy conditions in the penultimate Wesco 3A league match of the season.
The first-place 13-0 Stormrays faced the third-place 10-2-1 Mountlake Terrace Hawks with places in the District 1 playoffs at stake. The Hawks came in with a reputation of Giant Killers, having defeated Archbishop Murphy, Cedarcrest, and Shorecrest, hoping to spoil the Stormrays’ dream season.
In a game punctuated by brief drizzles of threatening precipitation, the weather held off to allow the players to display their skills.
In a game punctuated by brief drizzles of threatening precipitation, the weather held off to allow the players to display their skills.
In the first twenty minutes, Stormrays would prod and probe, and Hawks would counterattack with intent.
The Terrace defense resolutely held off the dangerous Shorewood attacks, but Stormrays patiently switched the ball from left to right and left again while advancing forward. Star attacking midfielder, #10, carried the ball from the halfway line into the box, burst clear through a desperate tackle, and laced an unstoppable shot past the keeper for the breakthrough, 1-0.
Midway through the first half, the Stormrays seized the momentum and redoubled their offensive pressure. Star striker, #7, received the ball on the right flank, dribbled left, leaving defenders in her wake, and unleashed a rocket for a 2-0 lead.
The Hawks were reeling, the Stormrays engaged the press and swarmed the Terrace goal, the ball bobbling around the six-yard box until #10 loops the ball over the goalie’s flailing hands for her brace, making it 3-0 just before the half.
The match felt over in the second half, but Terrace was not giving up, launching waves of counter-attacks while fending off Shorewood’s half-hearted offense.
The match felt over in the second half, but Terrace was not giving up, launching waves of counter-attacks while fending off Shorewood’s half-hearted offense.
The Stormrays’ junior keeper, #1, had to come out of her first half slumber to pull off several superb agile saves to keep the shutout and snuff out any possible comeback. Midway through the second half, #10 drove to the eighteen-yard box, sensed an opening, curled a precision top left strike beyond the keeper’s reach for her hattrick, and the coup de grace, 4-0.
The Hawks launched one more last-gasp foray that hit the right post, and the clean sheet was safe, much to the satisfaction of the Shorewood goalie, #1.
The match ended and the Stormrays maintained their perfect record, heading into an almighty clash in the final match of the season against the second-place 12-1-0 crosstown rivals Shorecrest with the league title at stake.
NEWSFLASH: The Shorecrest Scots did not cooperate with the script and unexpectedly lost to the Arlington Eagles, 0-1, handing the title to Shorewood Stormrays, the 2023 Wesco 3A Champions!
NEWSFLASH: The Shorecrest Scots did not cooperate with the script and unexpectedly lost to the Arlington Eagles, 0-1, handing the title to Shorewood Stormrays, the 2023 Wesco 3A Champions!
The District 1 Championship is up next, with RPI and seedings (and qualification) for State still to be earned.
--TCA
Go Stormray!
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