Vashon High School’s girls soccer team established itself as one of the top four teams in the state with a pair of wins in the first two rounds of the 1A girls soccer championships.
The Pirates out-lasted the Montesano Bulldogs 1-0 on Tuesday in the rain-soaked Tumwater Stadium, then booted Seattle Christian in a shootout at Foster High School in Tukwila on Friday.
Olivia Andrus scored the only goal in the 11th minute against Montesano when the Bulldog goalkeeper mishandled a save at the height of a downpour. Andrus scrambled to the loose ball in front of the open net and pushed it over the line before any Montesano defenders could react.
Both teams pressed the attack throughout the game, with Montesano dominating for most of the second half. Pirate keeper Larissa Kuhns pulled Vashon out of trouble time and again.
Vashon’s best chance to add an insurance goal came later in the first half when Lena DeGuzman took a 30-yard free kick. The ball hit the top of the cage and rolled along the crossbar before dropping out of bounds for a Montesano goal kick.
At the final buzzer, a game official remarked to a Vashon supporter, “That’s a long time to hold your breath.”
The Pirate girls advanced to the semi-final round with a 2-1 shoot-out win over Seattle Christian Friday evening.
Andrus put Vashon up 1-0 with just over 11 minutes left in the first half. Carlyle Scott placed a corner kick from the right side into a crowd of players in the six-yard box. As the ball ricocheted between Pirates and Warrior defenders and the goalkeeper came off her line to try to grab the ball, Andrus stepped forward and popped the ball upward into the net.
The Pirate lead held until the the 66th minute, when the Warriors put together a nice combination from the left side to tie the game. The 1-1 score held through 10 minutes of overtime and, for the third time in five playoff games, the Pirates faced a shootout.
Denise Griffith, Scott, DeGuzman and Andrus all converted. Seattle Christian’s third shot went wide off the left post, and after four rounds Vashon led 4-3 as Cat Amick stepped up to the mark.
Amick kissed the ball before placing it on the penalty spot then calmly kicked the ball into the back of the net, sending the Pirates to the semifinal game and sending the Warriors home for the season.
“I’m proud of the team. I’ve had total faith in this team from the beginning,” girls soccer coach Paul Beytebiere said after the game.
“The leadership is exceptional this year,” added Beytebiere, naming captains Scott, a senior, Griffith and Amick, juniors and sophomore DeGuzman.
“I knew we could hold them when we went to overtime,” said Scott when asked when she knew Vashon could win. When the game came down to the shootout, “I knew we had good shots,” added Scott.
Vashon and Seattle Christian split their regular-season games, each winning at home. Vashon is the only 1A team to beat the Warriors this season.
Vashon plays Overlake High School at 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19. The winner of that game plays the winner of Lakeside High School (Nine Mile Falls) vs. The Bush School for the state championship at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, and the semi-final losers play for third and fourth place at 10 a.m. the same day. Semifinals and finals are at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.
— Rik Forschmiedt is the former sports editor of The Beachcomber.
