Seagulls soar to the top
Published 11:23 pm Saturday, November 22, 2008
LAKEWOOD — Valerie Stahl was savoring an historic moment. But when dozens of her celebrating classmates sprinted onto the field and surrounded Stahl and her teammates, the excitement level surged from intense to surreal.
“Having them run out there, you just feel like 500 times better,” said Stahl, who scored a goal to help Everett High School beat Seattle Prep 3-0 Saturday in the Class 3A state girls soccer championship at Harry Lang Stadium in Pierce County.
Stahl, Brittany McMullen and Annie Sittauer scored in the first half, lifting Everett to the first state title in program history. The Seagulls’ previous best finish was fourth in 1993. The last two seasons Everett lost against Seattle Prep in the quarterfinals.
“It’s altogether overwhelming. First in state — we’ve been working at it forever now. It was unbelievable,” said Stahl, a senior defender who scored Everett’s final goal on a free kick.
One could have assumed revenge was the main motivation for Everett, which got to play the team (Seattle Prep) that ended its season the past two years. But apparently that was a side note.
“What we wanted was to be a state champion, and it just happened to be Seattle Prep. We couldn’t play on the revenge factor,” said Everett head coach Kosta Pitharoulis, who made sure every Everett player got into the game. He inserted a huge wave of substitutes with about nine minutes to go.
Relentless defenders like Stahl and Shelby Bell helped Everett goalkeeper Emily Nesting notch her 10th shutout of the season. The trio is among a group of 10 seniors who helped the Seagulls compile a record of 20-2-1 and outscore foes 84-14. In seven postseason games Everett scored 31 goals and allowed just four.
Said Pitharoulis, “It’s an awesome group of girls. … It’s a very tight-knit family and they play for one another.”
Midway through the first half, Everett changed the flow of the game with whiplash-like swiftness. Known for its quick-strike offense, Everett scored twice in a span of 43 seconds. McMullen, a senior forward, scored the first one after slipping behind a Seattle Prep defender deep in the penalty box. Sittauer had the assist.
Less than a minute later, McMullen assisted on Everett’s second goal, scored by Sittauer, a junior forward.
“The first goal felt amazing. Every time we score a goal we just seem to keep going. Then we scored a second one,” Stahl said.
The first half was like ping-pong. One team attacked hard and lost possession; then the other squad immediately zoomed the opposite direction.
Everett knocked in its third goal with 12:11 to go before halftime. Stahl drilled a 34-yard free kick that rolled past Seattle Prep goalie Shanley DeFrancia.
“It was a really good lead at 2-0,” Stahl said, “but not good enough. The third one topped it off.”
Everett made the most of its first title-game appearance. The Seagulls fended off some decent attacks by Seattle Prep (16-4-3) in the second half and achieved their third shutout of the postseason.
A few minutes after the game, the significance of it all was still sinking in for Sittauer. “It has not hit me yet,” she said. “This was our goal at the beginning of the year and we’re just really happy to get it.”
Next season could be special too. Everett will lose 10 seniors, but five of its top eight scorers (goals plus assists) are juniors: Sele Vance, Sittauer, Kylie Beeson, Hannah Hawkins and Cammie Monro.
We’re going to miss the seniors come next year,” Pitharoulis said, “but we’ve got a great group returning.”
Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.
