SAMMAMISH — This may be a different type of Snohomish High School boys soccer team. However, the destination remains the same:
The 4A state final four.
The two-time defending state champions are headed back to the state semifinals after surviving the formidable Skyline Spartans 2-1 in a shootout Saturday afternoon at Skyline High School.
This was the year many predicted Snohomish’s reign atop the state soccer mountain would come to an end, given the substantial player attrition from the previous two years.
But a dramatic tying goal from Jason Fairhurst with the clock winding down in regulation, paired with a 5-4 triumph in the decisive penalty kicks, means the Panthers are off to the state semis for the fourth year running.
“It feels amazing, just because it’s my senior year and we’ve been working so hard,” Snohomish captain Eric Jones said. “We didn’t know what to expect at the beginning of the season, and to be back here one more time is just unbelievable. It’s a blessing.”
Snohomish (16-1-4) faces Tahoma, which defeated Wesco rival Mariner 2-0 Saturday, in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Friday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. The Panthers now have the chance to be the first team to win three consecutive Washington boys soccer championships in any classification since Mountain View won the large-school division from 1991-93.
And Snohomish is doing it playing a completely different style than the one it won its previous two titles with. The Panthers have typically been known as a stylish ball-possession team that prefers to play the ball on the ground. However, without the same personnel from the previous two years Snohomish has switched to an aerial-based attack, emphasizing the team’s physicality and heading ability to grind out wins.
It seems both styles work for the Panthers.
“It never gets old,” Snohomish coach Dan Pingrey said of reaching the state semis.
“We’re sitting on the sidelines and I said, ‘You know what? No matter what happens these guys are just a bunch of warriors,’” Pingrey continued. “It’s a different kind of team than we’ve had the last three years, and they’re just warriors, they don’t quit. They completely believe 100 percent in each other. I can’t say enough about what they’ve done.”
Matthew Richardson scored for Skyline, which finished its season 13-2-2.
Snohomish spent much of Saturday’s game being out-shot and out-chanced by the Spartans, as the District 2 champions had the size and strength to go toe-to-toe with the Panthers physically. Richardson gave Skyline the lead late in the first half, and with four minutes remaining in regulation it seemed Snohomish’s hopes of a three-peat were all but dashed.
That’s when Fairhurst came to the rescue. A Jones throw-in pinballed around the Skyline penalty box when it bounced into the path of Fairhurst. Fairhurst ripped a volley past Spartans goalkeeper Lucas Richardson to keep the game — and Snohomish’s season — alive.
“We started throwing some numbers forward,” Fairhurst said. “The ball bounced inside the (6-yard-box), Adam Kowalchyk was about to hit it and he had a bad angle on it. I was running behind him yelling, ‘Leave it!’ praying he’s hearing me. He steps to the side, I hit it, it deflects off a hip and goes into the goal. It was insane.”
The game went to sudden-death overtime, where Panthers goalkeeper Cameron Beardsley had to tip a Skyline cross onto his own crossbar to prevent a game-ending goal. When Snohomish’s Brennan Judy saw his dipping shot from 25 yards out sail over the crossbar at the final whistle, the game headed to penalty kicks.
Beardsley then gave the Panthers the perfect start to the shootout by saving the first attempt, diving to his right to give Snohomish a vital advantage.
“That guy is so confident in the net, and he loves PKs,” Pingrey said of Beardsley. “He’s one of these keepers who just eats it up.”
The Panthers’ five kickers — Jones, Thomas McKeown, Judy, Conner Smith and Fairhurst — all gave Lucas Richardson no chance to save, with Fairhurst’s conversion sending Snohomish to Puyallup.
Skyline had the edge in play during the first half, having a goal ruled out for offsides and seeing Ty Good’s partial breakaway attempt go just wide, before grabbing the lead in the 30th minute. Matthew Richardson received a pass on the right, turned and fired a low shot to the near post that Beardsley could only get a foot on, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
Skyline had good chances to add to their lead early in the second half, with Good having a shot from a tight angle deflect off the post, and Beardsley having to make a diving punch to keep Matthew Richardson’s free kick out.
Fairhurst later had a free header that produced an acrobatic save from Lucas Richardson. But Richardson couldn’t keep Fairhurst’s late effort out, and now a third straight state championship is within the Panthers’ reach.
At Skyline H.S.
Goals—Matthew Richardson (Sk), Jason Fairhurst (S). Records—Snohomish 16-1-4 overall. Skyline 13-2-2.
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