4A District 1 girls soccer: Lake Stevens beats Snohomish, keeps season alive

SNOHOMISH -- Prior to Thursday night's 4A District 1 elimination game against Snohomish, Lake Stevens coach Andy Knutson said he was already satisfied with his team's season.

The Vikings overcame injuries, the off-season loss of three projected starters and a roster lacking many seniors to make it one game from clinching another berth in the 4A state tournament before losing to Jackson Tuesday.

However, Knutson's satisfaction didn't mean he and the Vikings weren't going to fight their fiercest rival in the Wesco North champion Panthers Thursday night at Veterans Memorial stadium.

Despite falling behind 1-0, Lake Stevens stayed alive in the race for the 4A state tournament and ended Snohomish's season with a surprising 4-1 rout.

"The speech before the game was don't try to be anything you are not," Knutson said. Just be yourself and have a great time doing your best ... They did a great job of that."

The Vikings will now host the third seed from the Kingco league, Eastlake, Saturday at 2 pm in a winner-to-state loser-out contest.

The pressure seemed to be on Snohomish, which boasted more seniors by a 9-2 margin and the Panthers looked to tighten up after Dani Walsh tied the game at 1-1 in the 23rd minute thanks to an assist from Montana Wahlberg. Whereas the Vikings played loose and aggressive for 80 minutes.

Wahlberg almost didn't play due to a sprained ankle, but her assist proved to be the catalyst for an onslaught of scoring for the Vikings.

"There was some doubt that I wouldn't be able to play… It was a bit more injured than I thought it would be," Wahlberg said. "I'm just glad he put me in because I got a goal off it and got everything going."

With the game tied at 1-1 after halftime, Lake Steven's Hannah Huesers nearly scored after taking a pass on the opening kickoff. It took a diving save by Melissa Dreves to keep Huesers off the board.

But the junior forward continued to be a thorn in Snohomish's side, pushing the tempo and creating chance after chance for herself and her teammates.

"She was something else," Knutson said. "Very poised and just played with a lot of confidence. It was fun to watch."

Huesers finally broke through in the 58th minute with a goal and then caught the Snohomish defense napping, simply outrunning her defender on the way to a 60th minute goal that made the score 3-1 and all but ended the game.

"It just felt good," Huesers said. "I respect (Snohomish), but I love playing hard with my team every game because I know it could be our last, so I want to make the best of it."

Freshman Alexis Gutierrez added a 74th minute goal on counterattack with all ten Panthers fighting for a second goal.

After the final whistle it was customary hugs and tears for Snohomish, which won the Wesco North championship but failed to improve on last year's trip to the state quarterfinals.

Lacey Ensey assisted Morgan Green for the lone score against Vikings keeper Kaiya Paulson in the 18th minute.

"We accomplished a lot of what we set out to do (this season)," Panthers coach April Van Assche said. "We just didn't finish."