Halloween Tricks & Treats With Shorewood Girls Varsity Soccer - Chills, Spills and Thrills, Oh My!

Top row, from left: Varsity Coach Shaun Warner, Mady Finseth, AnaLeah Gonzalez, Rylie Gettmann, Avery Hogle, Maggie Alonzo, Harper Emanuel, Maddie Strasser, Lilly Burris, Kyla Smith, Frankie Lara, Abbey Lee, Sophie Schindler, JV Coach Travis Bear
Bottom row, from left: Asst Coach Dagmawi Terfasa, Shineun Moon, Maily Fly, Emmy Barron, Maggie Mauney, Whitney Ernst, Scarlett VonGunten, Jasmine Bea Lumbera, McKenna Anderson, Rilan Fly, Vol Coach Chris Guardiamo
Not Pictured: AD Joann Fukuma, Natalia Schweitzer

On Halloween night in the Pacific Northwest, it was a typical wet, rainy evening, but all was quiet in the Stormrays’ locker room. They were putting their feet up with a bye, as the #2 seed. 

Meanwhile, the 3A District 1 play-in contests were going ahead, with #5 Shorecrest facing #12 Meadowdale, at the familiar confines of Shoreline Stadium. 

In this all-Wesco South matchup, Scots were favored over the Mavericks, having won both home and away fixtures during the league regular season, and they duly edged Meadowdale by a singular goal, 1-0. 

Shorecrest will move on to face #4 Oak Harbor (Northwest Conference) away, on Saturday 11/2. 

Of greater interest, a few miles north, at Edmonds Stadium, #7 Edmonds-Woodway (Wesco South) faced off against #10 Everett (Wesco North), and the Seagulls pulled a trick on the Warriors, treating themselves to a surprise 1-0 win. 

Everett will move on to face #2 Shorewood away, on Saturday 11/2. In the other quarter-final matches, #1 Snohomish will play #8 Sedro-Woolley, and #3 Monroe will play #11 Mountlake Terrace, with the Cubs and Hawks out-spooking their play-in opponents. 

All quarter-final games will be played at the home field of the higher seed. The sweets of semifinals and finals beckon the winners, while the losers face the specter of the playoffs for third and fourth place. Qualification for State is at stake!

Ace Striker Lee Takes A Shot, Surrounded By Defenders

HOT FLASH:

Shorewood high school’s girls varsity soccer team put on a plucky performance last Saturday night in cool, rainy conditions at the 3A District 1 playoff quarter-final match of the league postseason soccer tournament. 

They wrapped up the Wesco 3A South league title on October 28th with a record of 10-1-1, qualified as the #2 seed for the District playoffs, with the best RPI ranking in the league. 

But #10 seed Everett did not care one whit about seedings nor RPI as they knocked out a favored Edmonds-Woodway team two nights ago, and they brought that same steely attitude against Shorewood at Shoreline Stadium, in a tighter than expected contest. 

The Seagulls had adapted by flooding the midfield to deny the Stormrays their passing lanes. Their main strategy was to punt the ball forwards, sideways, backwards, simply anywhere, to disrupt Shorewood's fluid, coherent movement. 

As a result the Stormrays dominated possession, but were profligate with several shots, and even when on target denied by superb goalkeeping, and twice by the crossbar. As the clock drifted towards the half, diminutive midfielder #11 finally bundled the ball into the net, 1-0. 

Att Mid Fly Goes On The Attack For Opening Score!

Everett would have to come forward to find an equalizer, and after a few hopeful long lobs, managed to earn a corner kick. A seemingly innocuous inswinger sailed untouched high above the Stormray keeper, and just below the crossbar into goal, which was either an outrageous bit of skill or luck, Seagulls did not care, 1-1, and there the half ended, all square.

In the second half, the Seagulls reverted to a ferocious defense, relying on occasional counter-attacking to threaten the opposing goal. They played an unusual 6-2-2 formation, heavily defensive, and dared the superior Stormray attack to beat them. 

Shorewood poked and prodded, but in the entire second half, Everett was resolute, denying the final pass to roving forwards just itching to score, time and time again. As the clock wound down to full-time, it dawned on the Stormray supporters with a chill, that Seagulls were content to play for a draw, and go to the lottery of penalty kicks. 

 FB Jasmine ‘Sockeye’ Lumbera powers home the Golden Goal!

Shorewood had 10 minutes of Golden Goal extra-time to avert this fate. The Everett plan was working, and the first five minutes flashed by without a score, due to superb goalkeeping on both sides, but mainly by the Everett keeper, as Stormrays again camped out in the opposing half, one futile shot after another. 

Under two minutes of time were left, and the dreaded shootout was looming, but Shorewood continued lobbing ball after ball into the box, when a cross, drifting between the intended strikers found the unlikely head of defensive fullback #5 (affectionately known as JBL) who soars high like a magnificent salmon, and in a blink flicks home a bolt from the blue, 2-1. 

Checkmate - a dramatic finish that releases equal parts delirium and relief, but Stormrays live to fight another day.

At the midway point of the District 1 playoffs, #3 Monroe defeated #11 Mountlake Terrace, 2-1; #4 Oak Harbor edged #5 Shorecrest, 3-2; #8 Sedro-Woolley beat #1 Snohomish after a goalless draw & PKs. 

So the semi-final matchups are Shorewood vs Monroe, and Oak Harbor vs Sedro-Woolley, on Tuesday 11/5, for the right to meet in the final, and qualify for State! 

Anything can and probably will happen, as there was tension and high drama at the old stadium tonight, where the unlikeliest players stepped up to keep Shorewood alive.

However, the journey is not over for Snohomish, Shorecrest, Everett and Mountlake Terrace, as they enter a playoff to try win 3rd or 4th place, and still go to State! Watch. This. Space.

--Story by TCA

--Photos by Todd Linton