SEATTLE — Lakeside struck quickly and with force, and the onslaught was too much for the Glacier Peak boys soccer team on Friday night as the Grizzlies fell 4-2 in a Class 3A state quarterfinal game at Interbay Stadium.
Three of Lakeside’s goals came in the first half, two came in the first eight minutes and one came in the first 40 seconds.
Trailing 3-0 at halftime, Glacier Peak rallied to score twice in the initial 20 minutes of the second half, and the Grizzlies kept up the pressure in the late moments, looking for the tying goal. Instead it was Lakeside getting a goal in the final two minutes to clinch the outcome.
“We started a little frazzled and we gave into a temptation of playing longer and quicker than what we want to,” said Glacier Peak coach Kyle Veach. “We want to play low and slow, and possess them out of the match. But we fell into that trap and (the Lions) did a great job.
“Three goals is difficult (to overcome), but the boys believed they could do it,” he added. “We believed we could, but we came up a little short.”
With the victory, Lakeside advances to the state semifinals next Friday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup against the winner of today’s Interlake-Columbia River game. Glacier Peak saw its season end with a 16-5 record.
At the outset, Glacier Peak seemed caught off guard by the Lions’ speed in the attacking end and by their ability to get balls deep to players breaking into space. Basically that was Lakeside’s early strategy and it paid off well with three goals in the first 40 minutes.
The spectators were barely settled in their seats when the Lions scored their first goal. After getting a takeaway in their offensive end, midfielder Miles Blessing broke free down the middle after taking a pass and sent a shot past Glacier Peak goalkeeper Sahm Noorfeshan just inside the right post.
Barely seven minutes later the Lions notched a second goal, with forward Sharif Kombo finding the net from in front after a well-placed pass from forward Sam Agosti.
Lakeside added a third goal just before halftime with defender Christopher Cho feeding midfielder Will Barton on a deep run for a shot into the left side of the goal.
The Grizzlies finally got on the board early in the second half on a long free kick into the box by forward Daniel Guerrero. The ball carried into traffic and then into the left side of the goal.
Glacier Peak trimmed the margin to 3-2 midway through the second half on a terrific goal by midfielder Christopher Day. With his back to the goal, he gathered the ball and spun with a bloop shot that went across the goal mouth and into the right side of the net.
But with the Grizzlies pressing forward, trying desperately to get the equalizer, Lakeside tacked on a goal inside the final two minutes on a breakaway by Kombo.
Despite the disappointing finale, “we did a fantastic job (this season),” Veach said. “We just came up short in the end. When you get to state, everybody’s good. They were better than us in the first half and we were better in the second half. But the deficit was just a little too much to overcome.”
At Interbay Stadium
Goals—Glacier Peak—Daniel Guerrero, Christopher Day; Lakeside—Miles Blessing, Sharif Kombo 2, Will Barton. Goalkeepers: Glacier Peak—Sahm Noorfeshan; Lakeside—Kiki Boyle. Records—Glacier Peak_16-5; Lakeside_14-5-1.
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