Murphy wins in shootout

Published 10:42 pm Tuesday, May 17, 2011

EVERETT — It would seem that there was only one person inside Everett Memorial Stadium who wanted to see Tuesday night’s first-round game of the 2A state boys soccer tournament end on a penalty-kick shootout.

His name was Jordan Trinka, and he was standing in goal for the Archbishop Murphy High School Wildcats.

“During regulation, I started hoping it would go into PK’s,” the senior goalkeeper said late Tuesday night, shortly after leading the Wildcats to a 3-2 shootout win. “I would rather have the fate of the team in my hands than in someone else’s.”

After Trinka used his gloved hands to make a diving save five shots into the 10-shot extra session, teammate Alexis Magana closed out a busy night with the game-winner in the lower left corner.

Magana’s PK goal, which came after he scored a goal and added an assist during regulation, gave AMHS a 4-3 advantage in the shootout session and sent the Wildcats into a Saturday quarterfinal match.

“PK’s is not something you like,” Magana said. “But if it’s going to come down to that, you do what you have to do to win.”

Magana’s game-winner came in the most dramatic fashion, even though Trinka’s diving save earlier in the session had helped AMHS build up a 3-1 lead. North Kitsap (14-5-1) scored on its final two penalty kicks, while a potential game-winning shot on Archbishop Murphy’s fourth try sailed over the crossbar.

Then Magana stepped into the box and drilled his shot untouched into the lower left corner — the exact same spot teammates Joshua Bartley, Tyler Ptacek and Sean Ryan went while scoring on the Wildcats’ first three shots of the session.

“I didn’t even realize that until after the game was over,” Magana said of the Wildcats’ shot placement in the PK session. “I just saw the keeper already guessing early, and as soon he started moving, I shot it the other way.”

It capped off quite a night for Magana, who had a hand in both Archbishop Murphy goals during regulation.

The Wildcats (17-2-0) fell into an early hole while North Kitsap dominated the opening 10 minutes of the match. The Vikings scored just three minutes in, and they continued to carry momentum well into the first half.

But as AMHS junior Jake Flanigan sent a long pass toward Magana along the left sideline in the 18th minute, the complexion of the match started to change. Magana made a nice pass toward Ryan, who got a foot on the ball before Bartley directed it into an open net to tie the score 1-1.

Just over 10 minutes later, after Ryan floated a pass over Magana’s back shoulder at the top of the 18-yard box, Magana turned and wheeled a bicycle kick that sent the ball floating over the North Kitsap goalkeeper for a 2-1 lead.

The Wildcats carried the 2-1 lead into the second half before North Kitsap’s Nick Tedford headed in a throw-in pass from teammate Garrett Wilder to tie the score in the 49th minute.

Both teams had several chances to take the lead during a furious, physical final 30 minutes of regulation and two overtime sessions, but neither the Wildcats not the Vikings could get the game-winner. Archbishop Murphy’s best chance came in the closing minute of the second overtime, when Ryan’s corner kick pass led to an open-net shot that was blocked by a North Kitsap defender right in front of the net. That came shortly after North Kitsap’s Wilder collided with Trinka in front of the AMHS goal and had to be helped off the field because of bruised ribs.

After 90 minutes of action, the match final went into penalty kicks, much to the chagrin of many onlookers.

“I’d rather play until one team drops dead on the field or somebody scores,” North Kitsap coach Chris May said afterward. “Somebody’s going to go home not happy, but that’s the way it works.”

Even Archbishop Murphy coach Eddie Fernandez saw the win as a bit tainted, saying: “It’s unfortunate. For North Kitsap to come out and play that well and then lose is tough. But if that’s the way it has to happen, that’s the way it happens.”

After scoring the game-winner, Magana was just happy to move on in the tournament.

“Obviously, that wasn’t our best game,” he said. “I’m just glad that we get the opportunity to move on and play the way we know we can play.”

While Magana’s goal set off quite a celebration for AMHS, it left the North Kitsap goalkeeper face-down on the turf while inconsolably weeping. When he finally got to his feet, one of the first people to hug him was Trinka.

“I’ve been in that position before,” the Wildcats goalkeeper said a few minutes later. “It’s not a good feeling. I did not want to re-live that experience, so I was going to do whatever I had to do in the shootout to make sure we won.”

Marco Lopez scored North Kitsap’s first goal in the third minute off an assist from Ismeal DeLuna.