Published: Monday, November 1, 2010
Snohomish beats Kamiak in a shootout to earn state berth in girls soccer
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Snohomish’s Morgan Green (14) tries to get a step on Kamiak’s Paige Littrell during Monday night’s game. The Panthers came back in the final three minutes to tie the score and eventually won in a shootout to advance to state.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Kamiak’s Taylor Stanley (7) and Snohomish’s Grace Nelson (4) vie for a header in the first half.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Snohomish defender Brooke Pingrey (3) clears a ball past Kamiak forward Rachel Rinke.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
Hair goes flying as Kamiak’s Cassidy Seckman (top) elevates over Snohomish’s Amanda Morrell.
MUKILTEO — “Don’t give up.”
Coaches say it to athletes all the time, hoping to inject hope when things look incredibly bleak. Is it a cliche or a powerful mantra? On Monday, the Snohomish High School girls soccer team made a case for the latter option.
With her squad down by two goals with 3 minutes to go in regulation, Snohomish coach April VanAssche enthusiastically shouted, “Don’t give up!” The Panthers took their coach’s passionate request to heart and pulled off a seemingly impossible comeback.
As a result, Snohomish is headed to state.
Snohomish overcame a 3-1 deficit by scoring twice in the final 2 minutes of the second half, got through two scoreless 5-minute overtime periods and beat the stunned Kamiak Knights in a penalty-kick shootout, 4-3. With the incredible come-from-behind win in the Class 4A District 1 semifinal at Kamiak High, Snohomish (13-5) advanced to the district championship and — most importantly — clinched a spot in the 4A state tournament.
“It just came down to faith and believing in each other and not giving up, most of all,” said Snohomish junior Annie Hund, a forward who scored Snohomish’s first goal. “We just really, really wanted it. We knew that it was our time and we got it when it counted, and now we’re going to state.”
Before playing a first-round state game next week, Snohomish battles Western Conference North Division rival Lake Stevens (12-5) for the district title at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Lake Stevens High. Lake Stevens beat Jackson 1-0 on Monday in the other District 1 winner-to-state semifinal. The winner earns Wesco’s top seed for state; the loser is the No. 2 seed.
“I couldn’t have written it better,” said VanAssche. “Lake Stevens has been great all season. They deserve where they’re at too. It’s awesome that two strong Wesco North teams are battling for first and second (seeds).”
Speaking of battling, Snohomish certainly did that against high-powered Wesco South champion Kamiak (13-3-1) in a game that was scoreless until the final 23 minutes of regulation. Here’s a breakdown of the crazy conclusion of the second half:
*22:10 to go — Kamiak took a 1-0 lead when Taylor Stanley scored a close-range goal (Elizabeth Gross assist).
*9:45 to go — Snohomish tied it at 1-1 on Hund’s goal from the right side, set up by Courtney Johnson’s pass.
*5:15 to go — Kamiak’s Rachel Rinke collected a pass from Stanley up the right side and Rinke scored despite goalkeeper Melissa Dreves’ diving challenge. Score: Kamiak 2-1.
*3:15 to go — Scoring what seemed to be the game-clinching goal, Kamiak’s Cassidy Seckman (Emma Makela assist) zipped behind the defense and made it 3-1.
*Final 2 minutes of regulation — Loading players into the goalie box out of desperation, Snohomish scored twice in a span of about 90 seconds, tying it at 3-3. Morgan Green (Amanda Morrell assist) cut the deficit to 3-2 and Courtney Brown (Green assist) knotted up the score, sending Snohomish players, coaches and fans into a frenzy.
After neither team scored in two overtime sessions, the teams went to alternating penalty kicks. Snohomish made its first four attempts, but Kamiak’s Stanley missed her team’s second attempt when her shot caromed off the crossbar — one of four Kamiak shots to hit the bar or the post in the wacky game. A few shots later, the game ended when Snohomish keeper Dreves made a diving save against Kamiak’s Megan Blocker. Snohomish players sprinted toward Dreves and dogpiled onto her in celebration of their first state berth since 2007.
“There’s no way you could have told me at the beginning of the game that this is the way it would have gone,” VanAssche said, “but I’m very excited because this game gave us a lot of confidence.”
“They had the heart,” she added. “That’s what we tell them: If you lead with your heart, then everything else will go with it.”
Meanwhile, a heartbroken Kamiak team that outshot Snohomish 20-8 must regroup. The Knights play a loser-out game against Wesco South rival Jackson (10-7-1) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Lake Stevens High. The winner travels to play a winner-to-state, loser-out game against the KingCo No. 3 seed on Saturday.
“I just told the girls (the loss versus Snohomish) is a valuable lesson,” Kamiak coach Beth Stewart said. “You can’t let down or back down at the end.”
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam and follow Cane on Twitter at MikeCaneHerald.`
Coaches say it to athletes all the time, hoping to inject hope when things look incredibly bleak. Is it a cliche or a powerful mantra? On Monday, the Snohomish High School girls soccer team made a case for the latter option.
With her squad down by two goals with 3 minutes to go in regulation, Snohomish coach April VanAssche enthusiastically shouted, “Don’t give up!” The Panthers took their coach’s passionate request to heart and pulled off a seemingly impossible comeback.
As a result, Snohomish is headed to state.
Snohomish overcame a 3-1 deficit by scoring twice in the final 2 minutes of the second half, got through two scoreless 5-minute overtime periods and beat the stunned Kamiak Knights in a penalty-kick shootout, 4-3. With the incredible come-from-behind win in the Class 4A District 1 semifinal at Kamiak High, Snohomish (13-5) advanced to the district championship and — most importantly — clinched a spot in the 4A state tournament.
“It just came down to faith and believing in each other and not giving up, most of all,” said Snohomish junior Annie Hund, a forward who scored Snohomish’s first goal. “We just really, really wanted it. We knew that it was our time and we got it when it counted, and now we’re going to state.”
Before playing a first-round state game next week, Snohomish battles Western Conference North Division rival Lake Stevens (12-5) for the district title at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Lake Stevens High. Lake Stevens beat Jackson 1-0 on Monday in the other District 1 winner-to-state semifinal. The winner earns Wesco’s top seed for state; the loser is the No. 2 seed.
“I couldn’t have written it better,” said VanAssche. “Lake Stevens has been great all season. They deserve where they’re at too. It’s awesome that two strong Wesco North teams are battling for first and second (seeds).”
Speaking of battling, Snohomish certainly did that against high-powered Wesco South champion Kamiak (13-3-1) in a game that was scoreless until the final 23 minutes of regulation. Here’s a breakdown of the crazy conclusion of the second half:
*22:10 to go — Kamiak took a 1-0 lead when Taylor Stanley scored a close-range goal (Elizabeth Gross assist).
*9:45 to go — Snohomish tied it at 1-1 on Hund’s goal from the right side, set up by Courtney Johnson’s pass.
*5:15 to go — Kamiak’s Rachel Rinke collected a pass from Stanley up the right side and Rinke scored despite goalkeeper Melissa Dreves’ diving challenge. Score: Kamiak 2-1.
*3:15 to go — Scoring what seemed to be the game-clinching goal, Kamiak’s Cassidy Seckman (Emma Makela assist) zipped behind the defense and made it 3-1.
*Final 2 minutes of regulation — Loading players into the goalie box out of desperation, Snohomish scored twice in a span of about 90 seconds, tying it at 3-3. Morgan Green (Amanda Morrell assist) cut the deficit to 3-2 and Courtney Brown (Green assist) knotted up the score, sending Snohomish players, coaches and fans into a frenzy.
After neither team scored in two overtime sessions, the teams went to alternating penalty kicks. Snohomish made its first four attempts, but Kamiak’s Stanley missed her team’s second attempt when her shot caromed off the crossbar — one of four Kamiak shots to hit the bar or the post in the wacky game. A few shots later, the game ended when Snohomish keeper Dreves made a diving save against Kamiak’s Megan Blocker. Snohomish players sprinted toward Dreves and dogpiled onto her in celebration of their first state berth since 2007.
“There’s no way you could have told me at the beginning of the game that this is the way it would have gone,” VanAssche said, “but I’m very excited because this game gave us a lot of confidence.”
“They had the heart,” she added. “That’s what we tell them: If you lead with your heart, then everything else will go with it.”
Meanwhile, a heartbroken Kamiak team that outshot Snohomish 20-8 must regroup. The Knights play a loser-out game against Wesco South rival Jackson (10-7-1) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Lake Stevens High. The winner travels to play a winner-to-state, loser-out game against the KingCo No. 3 seed on Saturday.
“I just told the girls (the loss versus Snohomish) is a valuable lesson,” Kamiak coach Beth Stewart said. “You can’t let down or back down at the end.”
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam and follow Cane on Twitter at MikeCaneHerald.`
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