Everett earns berth in girls soccer state tournament

Published 9:24 pm Tuesday, November 1, 2011

EVERETT — Tuesday night’s playoff game was the first time the Everett girls soccer team played a home game at Everett Memorial Stadium this season.

If any parents forgot that fact and were delayed in arriving, they missed a great start.

Everett scored twice in the first four minutes to jump out to a lead it would never relinquish, beating Shorecrest 2-0 in a 3A District 1 semifinal game. The victory advances Everett to the state tournament for the first time in two years. Shorecrest must win its consolation game Thursday to make it to state.

“It should be a lot of fun,” Everett head coach Kosta Pitharoulis said of state. “The girls are really excited. They’ve had a heck of a season so far and I think they are deserving.”

Everett, which finished the regular season unbeaten, regularly plays its home games at Lincoln Field near Everett High School. But because of a lack of seating accommodations at Lincoln Field, the Seagulls played their district semifinal game at Everett Memorial Stadium. The surface is a little bouncier and faster than anything either team is used to and it benefited Everett early.

“It is a different surface and it’s difficult to get used to quickly,” Pitharoulis said of the Everett Memorial Stadium turf. “We had a practice here last night. For Shorecrest, it probably was difficult to get used to. That’s a really quick surface.”

Just over a minute into the game, Everett midfielder McKayla Fox corralled a ball and laid it off to teammate Gabrielle Wagonblast. The ball took a good bounce and Wagonblast put a left-footed, half-volley kick on it and buried it in the net.

“It could have gone either way,” Pitharoulis said. “It could have gone 20 feet over the goal, but it was good technique by her and a great finish. It put us up 1-0 and that was all we’d need.”

Morgan McCarty scored Everett’s second goal. She headed in a cross from about 12 yards out just three minutes after the Seagulls’ first score. The goal gave Everett a commanding 2-0 lead before most fans had even sat down.

Shorecrest head coach Mindy Dalziel didn’t blame the surface for the early setbacks, instead focusing on the lack of defensive changes by her players.

“We came out totally flat-footed and they punished us,” Dalziel said. “They scored two quick goals and from there you have to play catch up for the next 75 minutes. We didn’t make good defensive changes and when you play a good team, they punish you.”

Everett advances to Thursday’s 3A District 1 final, where the Seagulls play Meadowdale at 7:30 p.m. at Shoreline Stadium for the district’s No. 1 seed in the state tournament. Everett is 2-0 against the Mavericks this season.

Shorecrest plays Mount Vernon at 5:30 at Shoreline Stadium for the district’s third, and final, berth to state.

When Everett faces Meadowdale, the Seagulls will be without standout forward Haley Ayers for the second straight game. Ayers, who is third on the team with 11 goals and first in assists with 18, injured her collarbone Saturday against Mountlake Terrace. She didn’t play against Shorecrest on Tuesday.

“At first glance you might look at the score and say we didn’t miss her that much,” Pitharoulis said, “but she adds another dimension to a very dynamic attack.”

On Tuesday, Ayers’ absence gave Everett an added challenge in the second half as it was forced to shuffle players out of position. Shorecrest nearly took advantage, taking seven shots on goal in the half and coming close to converting a couple, including an open shot by Sophia Flohr from about 20 yards out that sailed just to the right of the goal.

“We put the pressure on them and really kind of put them under,” Dalziel said of the second half. “I think we kind of shell-shocked them a little bit. We turned the fight up. Unfortunately we just ran out of time. If we could have played an extra 20 or 30 minutes, maybe it would have changed.”

As for Everett, which won the 3A state title in 2008, Dalziel said she was impressed with their start.

“They played the first five minutes like a team that is determined to win state again,” Dalziel said. “And it showed. If they continue to do that they’re going to put some teams behind early and then they can just sit, which isn’t a bad place to be.”