Prep boys soccer: Edmonds-Woodway 2, Marysville Pilchuck 1

Published 7:55 pm Saturday, May 7, 2011

MARYSVILLE — Edmonds-Woodway put an end to Marysville Pilchuck’s season in a loser-out, 4A District 1 boys soccer game at Marysville Pilchuck High School on Saturday with a 2-1 victory. Zach Sakoi scored Edmonds-Woodway’s first goal in the 57th minute on an assist from Fareed Zerafat. Then Zerafat followed with the game-winning goal, a 78th-minute score on an assist from Michael Haan. Both teams, especially the Tomahawks, were reluctant to attack throughout the game, according to Edmonds-Woodway coach Tony Gilman. Marysville Pilchuck managed just one goal in the 11th minute.

“About 60 minutes of the game was spent in the middle of the field,” Gilman said, who followed with his thoughts on Zerafat and the game-winning goal. “When he takes his time, he’s very accurate. This last third of the season he’s come alive, and been a little more focused.” The goal was Zerafat’s eighth of the year.

The Warriors, with three forwards sitting the game out, were forced to make a number of position changes before the game began.

“Because we didn’t have our normal rotation up front, we had to make some adjustments. We put some people up front who had never played up front before,” said Gilman. The position swaps worked out well for the Warriors, who beat a Marysville Pilchuck team that had defeated them 2-1 earlier in the year.

Edmonds-Woodway will face Jackson on Tuesday at Jackson High School. Jackson holds a 2-0 advantage over the Warriors this year, blowing out Edmonds-Woodway once, yet narrowly winning the other match by just a goal. Gilman knows that nothing is certain in the upcoming game, aside from the challenges that Jackson will again present for his team.

“Jackson really presses you across the field defensively,” he said. “It will be interesting the third time around.”

Erik Whitney was in goal for the Warriors, who are now 6-10-1 overall this season. Marysville Pilchuck finishes its season at 12-5.