Cascade soccer team downs Marysville-Pilchuck

Published 11:49 pm Friday, March 28, 2008

MARYSVILLE — Wet, cold, tired and still at the top.

That described the Cascade boys soccer team following its match at Marysville-Pilchuck Friday night. It might have taken an extra period in miserable conditions, but the Bruins kept their grasp on the Wesco North lead with a 2-1 overtime defeat of the Tomahawks.

Cascade’s Camden McDonald scored the game-winner in the fourth minute of the extra period, thwarting an attempt by Marysville-Pilchuck to take the division lead.

“We wanted to get a win, we didn’t want to settle for a tie,” said Bruins head coach Daghan Kesim, whose team improved to 6-1 with the win. “Both teams are fighting for those top two spots in the league, so we both were after the win.”

Just seconds before McDonald’s game-winning kick, it seemed the match was headed for a tie. Cascade made it 1-1 in the first minute of the second half but, since that time, both offenses had made a habit of missing out on opportunities.

McDonald — who took an out-of-bounds pass from John DeOliviera, before knocking in a low shot from 30 yards out on the final play — finished the match with a little advice from his coach.

“He had gotten a lot of those shots earlier, but he kept shooting them over the goal. So, I told him, whatever you do from now on, make sure you shoot it on the ground,” said Kesim, who noted that it was the team’s fifth goal of the season out of a set play. “That’s what he did and it was a great shot.”

Marysville-Pilchuck led by a goal at halftime, after scoring on an arching shot in the 33rd minute.

It didn’t take Cascade long to set the tone in the second half. Skyler Sutherland took a pass from Jeff Gosslee in the first minute and fired one past the keeper to even it up at 1-1.

Less than five minutes later, Marysville-Pilchuck nearly struck back, as forward Jordan Salcedo perfectly timed a pass from near midfield and rifled a header toward the net that just missed wide left.

Minutes later Cascade also threatened to score, getting within two feet of the goal on a corner kick before the defense deflected the ball away.

The entire match was played on a muddy field with constant rain. But Kesim said it didn’t bother his team as much as it should have.

“Our field is kind of like this sometimes, so we’re kind of used to it,” he said. “We just had to make sure that we didn’t try to play pretty soccer. I told them to make quick passes and go long with the balls.”

Marysville-Pilchuck fell to 4-2 with the loss.

At Marysville-Pilchuck H.S.

Goals — Cascade: Sutherland 1, McDonald 1. Assists — Cascade: Gosslee 1, DeOliviera 1. Goalkeepers — Cascade: Michael Janner. Marysville-Pilchuck: Erik Cruz. Team records — Cascade 6-1 league, 6-1 overall. Marysville-Pilchuck 4-2, 4-2.