‘It just takes one’

Published 9:00 pm Monday, October 30, 2006

SNOHOMISH – Scoring goals has been something of a problem for the Snohomish girls soccer team this season.

But on Monday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium, one was enough.

Snohomish and Mountlake Terrace went toe to toe through all of one half and most of a second with no scoring, meaning their District 1 quarterfinal playoff game seemed headed for a possible overtime period and perhaps a penalty-kick showdown.

And then, with just over 10 minutes left in the match, the Panthers got the first and only goal they would need.

It came from the foot of sophomore forward Ashley Tombelaine, a point-blank rebound shot into a virtually unguarded net that lifted Snohomish to a 1-0 victory and the chance to play again tonight.

The Panthers, the No. 3 seed from the Western Conference’s North Division, advance to face Shorewood, the No. 2 South Division seed, in a 7 p.m. game at Shoreline Stadium.

“We’ve had much better games,” said Snohomish coach Dan Pingrey, whose team improved its record to 9-5-3. “But you know what? It doesn’t matter if we play ugly. If we win and move on, that’s what we need to do.”

Mountlake Terrace, the No. 4 South seed, saw its season come to an end. The Hawks finished with a 9-7-1 record.

“It was a game that could’ve gone either way,” said Mountlake Terrace coach Jerry Myers. “But Snohomish got a few more chances than us and they got the goal. … It was looking like overtime, but then they got that goal out of the blue. Somehow Snohomish was in the right place at the right time to put it in.”

After a back-and-forth first half, the Panthers began to put increasing pressure on the Mountlake Terrace defense. Slowly, steadily, their scoring chances were getting better and better, before finally an opportunity turned into a goal.

It happened when Snohomish senior forward Ashley Mincks took a strong shot from in front of the goal. The ball hit the crossbar and dropped right in front of the net, and by this time Mountlake Terrace goalkeeper Miranda Hanson was sprawled after trying to stop the initial shot.

Tombelaine scooted in and easily chipped in a short shot for the goal.

“It just takes one,” Pingrey admitted with a smile. “That’s all it takes, as long as we defend well. But scoring goals really hasn’t been our strength this year. We have some talented players and in the majority of games we actually out-play teams, but (the problem) has been finding the back of the net.”

Scoring goals “has been our No. 1 problem,” agreed Snohomish senior defender Brianna Clark. “I don’t know (why). We do everything right until the last point.

“But tonight we got a shot on goal and someone finally finished it,” she said. “I think everyone is starting to figure out that we just have to play our game and you only need one goal to win. Everyone stepped up tonight and played really well, and as we keep moving on I think we’ll keep coming together as a team.”

Pingrey praised the play of freshman midfielder Christine Westover, who was playing on the school’s C team two weeks ago. Westover did not start Monday, “but we put her in there and she changed the game in the second half,” he said. “She picked up the pace. She was working hard and made a difference for us. She was shutting down their midfield, and we hadn’t been doing that to that point.”

Though they have the momentum of a good win, the Panthers now must take on strong Shorewood team on the T-birds’ home turf.

“Shorewood is a good side,” Pingrey said. “From everything I’ve heard, they’re very strong, physical and well-organized. It’s going to be a fun battle. It’ll be two very similar teams playing against each other, which should make for an interesting match.”

At Snohomish Veterans Memorial Stadium

Goals-Snohomish: Tombelaine. Goalkeepers-Snohomish: Goverde. Mountlake Terrace: Hanson. Records-Mountlake Terrace 9-7-1. Snohomish 9-5-3.