ARLINGTON — Having reached the Class 3A state tournament a year ago, the Arlington girls soccer team had a goal to get back again this season.
The Eagles made that goal come true on Tuesday night, breezing past Glacier Peak 4-0 in a semifinal match of the 3A District 1 tournament. The victory clinches a state berth for the Eagles, and puts them in Saturday’s district title game against Edmonds-Woodway, also at Arlington High School.
After last year’s appearance at state, where the Eagles advanced to the quarterfinals, returning to state “is a big deal,” said Eagles midfielder Olivia Larson, who scored twice against Glacier Peak. “We’ve been working all season with that in our minds, and this year we want to make a dent at state.”
Another state appearance “has been their goal since we were there last year, so I think there’s probably a little bit of relief now,” said Eagles coach Nathan Davis. “But they also want to go for a district title.”
Larson opened the scoring for Arlington, taking a long pass from teammate McKenzie Buell in open space and coming in on Grizzlies goalkeeper Sammy Fatkin from the right. Larson’s shot scooted past a diving Fatkin into the lower left corner of the net.
Buell added Arlington’s second goal midway through the opening period. Gathering the ball left of the net, she eluded some defenders and came in unobstructed on Fatkin to score with a shot inside the far post.
In the second half Arlington also scored twice, with the first goal resulting from some outstanding hustle and deft footwork by forward Danielle Baker. She sprinted after a ball deep into the attacking zone, getting to it just before it reached the end line, and then somehow maneuvered the ball past Fatkin at close range into the net.
With about 20 minutes to play, Arlington’s C.J. Arnold sent a corner kick through the box that Larson gathered and, with a whirling shot, blasted into the left side of the net.
“From the get-go, I thought we played with a lot of passion and played very hard,” Davis said. “Our goal was to try to possess (the ball) and put pressure on (Glacier Peak) right from the start, and our early goal really did that.”
Glacier Peak will face Marysville Pilchuck in a loser-out showdown Thursday. The winner of that game will reach a Saturday game for the district’s third and fourth berths at state.
At Arlington H.S.
Goals—Olivia Larson (A) 2, McKenzie Buell (A), Danielle Baker (A). Goalkeepers—Glacier Peak: Sammy Fatkin. Arlington: Kat Sanchez. Records—Glacier Peak 10-4-4. Arlington 15-3.
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