Marysville-Pilchuck advances to state boys soccer semis with shootout win

Published 12:06 am Sunday, May 24, 2009

LAKE STEVENS — It’s a pattern Marysville-Pilchuck head coach Geoff Kittle hopes to not continue, unless it always ends in a ‘W’.

For the second consecutive game the Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks went into a shootout.

For the second straight game the Tomahawks got a clutch performance from goalkeeper Kyle Bluhm and their penalty kick shooters.

Faced with adversity for the first time all season, the Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks came from behind to earn a 3-2 shootout victory over the Issaquah Eagles in a 4A state quarterfinal Saturday afternoon at Lake Stevens High School.

The Tomahawks (18-0-2 overall) advanced to the semifinals and face (the South Kitsap-Snohomish winner) Saturday at 6 p.m. at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood.

Trailing 2-0 for the first time all season, the Tomahawks showed no quit scoring once in the first half and tying it in the second before outlasting the Eagles in a shootout 5-3.

“That was our first adversity all season,” junior Brady Ballew said.

Ballew scored the tying goal with 12 minutes remaining in regulation on a pass from senior midfielder Seth Jones.

“Seth Jones’ eyes are as good as they get. All I had to do was the easy part,” Ballew said about the pass from Jones.

After Ballew tied the score he ran down the sideline before leaping in his coach’s arms.

“It felt great. He’s got a great head on him and that was great recognition on Seth’s part. That was two individual smart plays,” Kittle said.

After two scoreless overtime periods, it was up to Bluhm and the Tomahawks shooters to determine their season’s fate.

Bluhm, just a sophomore and the hero of Tuesday’s first-round shootout win over Gig Harbor when he saved two penalty kick shots, saved Issaquah’s second attempt giving the Tomahawks a 2-1 advantage in the shootout.

“Not enough words,” Ballew said when asked to describe the play of his keeper.

Jones, John Crenshaw, Ballew and Elwood Sevon gave Marysville-Pilchuck the 4-3 shootout lead setting up the Tomahawks’ fifth shooter, Kevin Chavez.

Make it and the Tomahawks’ record-setting season — a season that has seen them win their first Wesco North title and reach the second round of the state tournament for the first time time in school history — would continue.

Chavez’s shot ended up in the right corner of the net and allowed the Tomahawks to advance to the final four of the state tournament.

In an exciting first half, the Eagles scored twice in the first 15 minutes of the contest.

Crenshaw answered quickly for the Tomahawks, cutting the Eagles lead to 2-1 four minutes after Issaquah’s score.

“I have confidence in the guys. They bend but they don’t break,” Kittle said about his team adding that he didn’t worry about being down two goals.

Marysville-Pilchuck peppered the goal throughout the first half missing on multiple opportunities.

Issaquah stacked its defense in the second half putting seven or eight defenders in the backfield and giving the Tomahawks little opportunity for a scoring chance — until Ballew struck.

The midfielder had two early shots that barely missed hitting the back of the net, before his header tied the score.

Issaquah, led by KingCo 4A player of the year Quinn Grisham, finished its season at 13-6-2. This was the Eagles’ first time in the state tournament.