Published: Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Lake Stevens wins Wesco North title
Sophomore keeper Paulsen helps Vikings beat Snohomish in shootout
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Sarah Weiser / The Herald
Ashley Saracino (right) of Lake Stevens and Amanda Morrell (left) of Snohomish fight for the ball during the first half of Wednesday night's game at Lake Stevens High School. Lake Stevens won 1-0 in a shootout.
LAKE STEVENS — Penalty kicks haven't been kind to Lake Stevens this year.
But a winless record in shootouts didn't matter with the league championship on the line.
Goalkeeper Kiaya Paulsen stopped back-to-back shots as the Vikings earned their first Western Conference North Division title since a 2008 co-championship with a 1-0 (4-2 on penalty kicks) shootout win over Snohomish on Wednesday night at Lake Stevens High School.
Paulsen, one of eight sophomores on the roster, stopped shots from freshman Brooke Pingrey and senior Grace Nelson on consecutive attempts as Lake Stevens took the edge in the league championship-deciding match.
“From last year winning a few (shootouts) and from this year winning nothing, it definitely put the pressure on me to see if we could win our first one in especially one of our most important games,” Paulsen said.
After a Lindsay Licht wide miss on the Vikings opening shot, Paulsen stopped Pingrey's shot and Brooke Pahukoa converted for Lake Stevens. Paulsen dove to her right smothering Nelson's shot as the Vikings (10-5 league, 11-5 overall) scored on their next three attempts.
The shootout win bumped Lake Stevens' penalty kick record to 1-3 this season, while it dropped Snohomish (10-5, 11-5) to its third consecutive loss in league play.
“It's one of those games where at the end you don't understand why it happened that way,” Snohomish head coach April VanAssche said. “When you leave it all on the field it's supposed to be a win and so that's a hard thing to understand and a hard thing to coach them through. I think this atmosphere and the importance of being Wesco champs was a great environment for us going into playoffs. We're going to take what we can from this and try to put some positives to it.”
Snohomish senior forward Courtney Johnson couldn't convert on a counterattack in the first overtime, steering the shot wide of Paulsen.
Johnson also came close in the 14th minute as her 7-yard effort smacked the crossbar after junior Lauren Johnson sent a long-distance free kick into the box.
“It's not the best point I'd want to be in, but I have confidence in my team,” VanAssche said of the losing skid. “I know that they want it and I know that if we come out and play hard maybe three losses is going to light a fire under us that we wouldn't have had otherwise.”
Snohomish defeated Lake Stevens 2-1 in a penalty shootout on Sept. 21 in the first meeting between the two conference front-runners.
“We've been having a great last couple of weeks, we're just getting better and better right now,” Lake Stevens head coach Andy Knutson said.
Both teams came close to grabbing a lead multiple times.
Sophomore Ciara Carter nearly put the Vikings ahead in the second minute when she earned a breakaway and dribbled around Snohomish goalkeeper Melissa Dreves, but Carter's initial touch past the keeper was too strong and the forward couldn't turn the shot on frame as the ball ended up hitting the side netting.
Dreves made a sliding stop in the 51st minute as sophomore forward Dani Walsh broke free into the box for a shot.
Lake Stevens, which could potentially play at home throughout the 4A District 1 tournament, faces the winner of a North 3/South 2 matchup at 7 p.m. on Monday in a winner-to-state semifinal.
“As a team I think we've come very far,” Paulsen said of a squad that has just three seniors. “It's supposed to be a rebuilding year — that's what everyone said — but that's not what happened.”
But a winless record in shootouts didn't matter with the league championship on the line.
Goalkeeper Kiaya Paulsen stopped back-to-back shots as the Vikings earned their first Western Conference North Division title since a 2008 co-championship with a 1-0 (4-2 on penalty kicks) shootout win over Snohomish on Wednesday night at Lake Stevens High School.
Paulsen, one of eight sophomores on the roster, stopped shots from freshman Brooke Pingrey and senior Grace Nelson on consecutive attempts as Lake Stevens took the edge in the league championship-deciding match.
“From last year winning a few (shootouts) and from this year winning nothing, it definitely put the pressure on me to see if we could win our first one in especially one of our most important games,” Paulsen said.
After a Lindsay Licht wide miss on the Vikings opening shot, Paulsen stopped Pingrey's shot and Brooke Pahukoa converted for Lake Stevens. Paulsen dove to her right smothering Nelson's shot as the Vikings (10-5 league, 11-5 overall) scored on their next three attempts.
The shootout win bumped Lake Stevens' penalty kick record to 1-3 this season, while it dropped Snohomish (10-5, 11-5) to its third consecutive loss in league play.
“It's one of those games where at the end you don't understand why it happened that way,” Snohomish head coach April VanAssche said. “When you leave it all on the field it's supposed to be a win and so that's a hard thing to understand and a hard thing to coach them through. I think this atmosphere and the importance of being Wesco champs was a great environment for us going into playoffs. We're going to take what we can from this and try to put some positives to it.”
Snohomish senior forward Courtney Johnson couldn't convert on a counterattack in the first overtime, steering the shot wide of Paulsen.
Johnson also came close in the 14th minute as her 7-yard effort smacked the crossbar after junior Lauren Johnson sent a long-distance free kick into the box.
“It's not the best point I'd want to be in, but I have confidence in my team,” VanAssche said of the losing skid. “I know that they want it and I know that if we come out and play hard maybe three losses is going to light a fire under us that we wouldn't have had otherwise.”
Snohomish defeated Lake Stevens 2-1 in a penalty shootout on Sept. 21 in the first meeting between the two conference front-runners.
“We've been having a great last couple of weeks, we're just getting better and better right now,” Lake Stevens head coach Andy Knutson said.
Both teams came close to grabbing a lead multiple times.
Sophomore Ciara Carter nearly put the Vikings ahead in the second minute when she earned a breakaway and dribbled around Snohomish goalkeeper Melissa Dreves, but Carter's initial touch past the keeper was too strong and the forward couldn't turn the shot on frame as the ball ended up hitting the side netting.
Dreves made a sliding stop in the 51st minute as sophomore forward Dani Walsh broke free into the box for a shot.
Lake Stevens, which could potentially play at home throughout the 4A District 1 tournament, faces the winner of a North 3/South 2 matchup at 7 p.m. on Monday in a winner-to-state semifinal.
“As a team I think we've come very far,” Paulsen said of a squad that has just three seniors. “It's supposed to be a rebuilding year — that's what everyone said — but that's not what happened.”
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