Snohomish soccer strikes quickly in 3-0 win over Eagles

SNOHOMISH — The Snohomish girls soccer team, eager to get its season underway, wasted little time.

The Panthers scored two goals in the first 10 minutes as Snohomish began its season with a 3-0 non-conference victory over Arlington Tuesday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The early goals were exactly what Panthers head coach April VanAssche asked for in Snohomish’s first game of the season.

“I think it’s just a big sigh of relief,” VanAssche said. “No matter what happens, you just want to get (that first game) over with so you can see where you’re at. For us to get that win — and to score in the first five minutes which was our goal — I think it’s good confidence for a young team going into the next game. … It was really fun to see where we started. I was definitely impressed and excited to build off this one.”

Snohomish senior Madison Pollock got the Panthers on the scoreboard early with a goal in the fifth minute. Fellow senior Sydney Gemmill doubled Snohomish’s lead five minutes later with another goal to put the Panthers in the driver’s seat.

A late goal by Anna Montemor on a corner kick from Liz Daly all but sealed the win for Snohomish (1-0 overall).

“It’s a game-changer to get that first goal. It can be the difference between having momentum and not having it,” VanAssche said. “I think that’s what’s impressive: they did get it and they didn’t let up.”

Both squads went to their respective state tournaments last season, with Arlington (17-5-0 last season) reaching the 3A quarterfinals and Snohomish (13-7-1) falling 6-1 to Central Valley in the first round of the 4A state tournament.

“We wanted to get a really quality match in. I knew Snohomish was going to be good,” said Arlington head coach Nathan Davis. “Getting the rust off and get to playing. It’s hard for a first match against a good team coming out. They played hard.”

VanAssche said last season’s playoff loss has served as a rallying point for this year’s Snohomish squad.

“We’ve talked about it a lot,” she said. “We have a new team — half of the girls are new to the varsity team, but most of them were a part of it last year — so coming off that first loss in the (first round of state) killed us. And the girls are so hungry to get back to that spot and go past it.”

The Eagles were not without chances in the contest. Arlington (0-1) had a shot sail just over the crossbar in the 35th minute and another right before the halftime whistle that was denied by a diving Niki Denk in goal for Snohomish.

Denk had several spectacular saves for the Panthers to preserve the shutout.

“She was amazing,” VanAssche said. “Talk about playing like a senior captain. That’s what she did tonight. We’re so proud of her. That’s what Niki’s good at: those instinctual things. She just reacts quick enough and makes those world-class saves.”

“Their keeper played awesome,” Davis added. “She had five or six incredible saves in that game.”

Trailing in Tuesday’s contest was a new feeling for the Eagles players, who rarely faced a deficit last season.

“Last year I think we only trailed (for an extended period) in two games all year,” Davis said. “Mentally, that was a whole new thing.”

Davis praised senior forward Danielle Baker, who created several scoring opportunities for Arlington, as well as defender Kerra Williamson and midfielder Mckenzie Buell.

“We had great opportunities,” Davis said. “We had really good chances. We’ll just work on finishing. We’ll be totally fine.”

The Panthers and Eagles again have high hopes in 2015.

“They have high expectations,” Davis continued. “I think right now (the Eagles) are a little disappointed because they had high expectations for this match, too. … They were a little disappointed with the result, I think, but overall I thought we played OK. I think we’re going to play a lot better as we go on. There’s some new faces. Some of the girls had jitters. Overall, there were great attitudes and a great effort.”

At Veterans Memorial Stadium

Goals—Madison Pollock (S), Sydney Gemmill (S), Anna Montemor (S). Assists—Lauren Wheatley (S), Montemor (S), Liz Daly (S). Goalkeepers—Arlington: Kat Sanchez. Snohomish: Niki Denk. Records—Arlington 0-1-0 overall. Snohomish 1-0-0.