Shorewood Girls Soccer advance to District final, going to State

F Burris jukes left as she moves to launch a rocket
Shorewood players in dark blue

Shorewood high school’s girls varsity soccer team put on a perfunctory performance last Tuesday night in clear, cold conditions at the 3A District 1 playoff semi-final match of the league postseason soccer tournament. 

They had a scare against a tough Everett team in the quarter-final match, but prevailed in the nick of time, in overtime.

In the semi-final, they faced #3 seed Monroe at Shoreline Stadium, expecting another titanic struggle. The Bearcats came out with a high-press, man-to-man marking, with a lone sweeper at the back. This strategy would work against inferior opposition if you had fast players, precise passing, and ball-control skills. 

Stormrays, however, were superior in all these aspects, and turned their tactics against them, with a tough defense, rapid movement and quick passing. Shorewood repeatedly won the ball, shrugged off challenges, and advanced decisively to the opposing box.

FB Lumbera scores another thundering header

The Stormray attacking mids and wingers were cutting them to shreds, with so much space behind the midfield and only one defender to beat. So much so that within the first ten minutes, each of the forwards #13 and #14 took advantage of the incisive passes to score in quick succession, 2-0. 

There could have and should have been more goals as the Bearcats seemed uninterested or disinterested in playing defense, and rather stubbornly persisted with their high line. 

Now, Shorewood’s greatest enemy was overconfidence and complacency, as cross after cross came flying in but the shooting went awry. The slim lead remained unchanged up till half-time. How would the Bearcats respond?

Monroe did adapt with perhaps two central defenders, and a midfield press, but this was no more effective. 

In the midst of a soccer match, acrobatics break out!

Early in the second half, a well-taken free-kick caught the Bearcat defense napping, and #5 (The Sockeye) pounced to nod home an unobstructed dart, 3-0. 

After this score, the Stormrays seemed to relax, and the Bearcats seemed more animated. The combination of Monroe attacking effort, and careless Shorewood defending resulted in an open shot from outside the box that the Stormray keeper was unable to repel, 3-1. 

This was Monroe’s flicker of hope as they surged forward, much to the consternation of the prematurely unfocused home team in slight disarray. 

Fortunately, the Stormrays reasserted themselves to reclaim the initiative, spurred on by their sharpshooter, #13 who took a throw-in into the box while tightly marked, feinted right as if aiming for the far post, but pivoted left and fired just inside the near post, wrong-footing both the defender and the goalie, 4-1. 

With the coup-de-grace duly applied, there was no further excitement as the Stormrays advanced to the final, and qualified for State!

F Lee summons her inner ballerina to pirouette & hit a wonder strike

At the other semi-final of the District 1 playoffs, #4 Oak Harbor thumped #8 Sedro-Woolley, 5-1. In the 3rd/4th playoffs, #5 Shorecrest surprised #1 Snohomish, 2-0; #11 Mountlake Terrace pipped #10 Everett after a 1-1 draw & PKs. 

So the final matchup (for 1st/2nd) is Shorewood vs Oak Harbor, on Saturday 11/9, both qualify for State, win or lose. 

3rd place matchup is Monroe vs Shorecrest, 4th place matchup is Sedro-Woolley vs Mountlake Terrace, both on Thursday 11/7, the winners qualify for State. 

With qualification assured, the final should be active and free-flowing, whereas the lucky loser matches will have more bite and urgency as it’s win or go home. 

All matches will take place at Shoreline Stadium, so this is your chance to still go witness the exuberance of youth and the purity of sports.

--Story by TCA

--Photos by Todd Linton