PASCO — History would have favored Snohomish, a storied program with top four finishes at the past four state tournaments. But for 78 minutes, it seemed like Saturday’s state quarterfinal game at Edgar Brown Stadium belonged to the Kamiakin boys soccer team.
And then it didn’t.
Logan Stapleton scored the equalizer for the Panthers with two minutes left, then Jason Fairhurst knocked in the game-winner in stoppage time to lift Snohomish to the 2-1 win and its fifth straight trip to the state semifinals.
For Isaiah Arechiga, who scored Kamiakin’s lone goal, it was a tough pill to swallow.
“It was tough, especially, shoot, extra time, no team expects to get two goals that fast after holding them for so long, so that was a shock,” Arechiga said.
Arechiga — who had a hat trick and two two-goal games in the Braves’ five previous postseason games — scored in the 27th minute after beating a defender off the dribble, then the Snohomish keeper with a shot off the inside of his right foot that snuck into the near post.
After trailing 1-0 at halftime, the Panthers (17-3) decided to ratchet its offensive pressure up for the final 40 minutes, and successfully kept Kamiakin on its heels.
A misplayed ball by the Kamiakin back line in the 48th gave Nathan Nicholson a point-blank look at goal, but he missed high. In the 66th, Stapleton beat goalkeeper Jorge Munguia with a shot, but Kaden Shymanski made what was — for a time — the play of the game when he bailed Munguia out by clearing the ball off the goal line.
“They (the defenders) were under a tremendous amount of pressure the entire game,” Kamiakin coach Jeff Bennett said. “Lots of long throws, lots of corner kicks, constantly having to be on their toes all the way from the back line to out keeper, and even our forwards and our mids.”
“We had been knocking on the door, trying to get at that goalkeeper and Kamiakin saved multiple shots off the line, and doing an incredible job,” Snohomish coach Matt Raney said. “We were trying anything and everything.”
But eventually the Panthers broke through when Stapleton lofted a ball from the corner of the 18-yard box that sailed over Munguia’s head and managed to nestle inside the far post to tie the score at 1-all.
Smelling blood, Snohomish captain Jason Fairhurst exhorted his teammates to finish the job.
“After the celebrations from that first goal subsided, I could hear him starting to motivate people, screaming, ‘We’re not going to overtime!,’” Snohomish coach Matt Raney said.
They didn’t, since mere moments later, Fairhurst weaved his way down the left flank, breaking away and slotting it past Munguia to seal the win.
“Confidence is a funny thing. It’s contagious, just like doubt is,” Raney said. “We’ve cultivated an environment of confidence such that each and every player believes he could take over a game with a moment’s notice. With that, the match was still there’s to earn. I know my staff and I didn’t stop believing. We only needed a moment to change the game.”
Next up for Snohomish is Gig Harbor, which beat West Seattle 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Friday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.
Archbishop Murphy 5, Kingston 0
EVERETT — Matt Williams recorded a hat trick and dished out an assist, and Sam Johnson scored twice to lead the Wildcats to an easy win over the Buccaneers in the 2A state quarterfinals Saturday, the next step on the road to a three-peat.
Archbishop Murphy, unbeaten this season at 20-0, advanced to Friday’s semifinal at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner against Cascade Conference foe Cedarcest, which defeated Lindbergh 1-0 Saturday.
The Wildcats defeated the Red Wolves 3-0 on March 24 and 4-0 on April 13. During the past three seasons, the two teams have met six times.
Murphy has won all six, by a combined score of 24-1.
“It’s the same group of nine kids who have been at the core of this run with me, and we’re more like family now,” Archbishop Murphy coach Michael Bartley said. “The chemistry between them, the way they handle the games and their ultra-competitive approach…I just couldn’t be blessed with a better group.”
The top-to-bottom depth of the Wildcats’ roster is unrivaled anywhere in 2A, and maybe anywhere else.
“We have 22 players on our roster, and our 11 v. 11 games, the starters against the second team, are as good of games as we get all year,” Williams said. “I think that’s what has translated into our success this year.”
—Dustin Brennan of the Tri-City Herald contributed to this story
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