Meadowdale girls soccer team falls to Seattle Prep 2-1 in Class 3A state semifinals

Published 2:54 pm Sunday, November 20, 2011

PUYALLUP

The Meadowdale Mavericks ran out of comebacks.

The Mavericks came from behind to beat Bonney Lake and Bishop Blanchet to advance to the semifinals of the Class 3A state girls soccer tournament. But after falling behind against defending state champion Seattle Prep on Friday, the magic ran out for the Mavericks, who lost to the Panthers 2-1.

“It’s not quite over, but we’re not in the final game,” said Meadowdale coach Wade Foley, whose team then lost 1-0 to Eastside Catholic to finish fourth. “But you know it has been a great playoffs for us. We ran into a Seattle Prep team that was athletic at every position and just beat us to the ball today, and that was the big difference in the game. They put a lot of pressure on us.”

Seattle Prep scored first, in the 36th minute, when sophomore Jenay McAuley found Mary Ann Santucci with a cross that Santucci fired past Meadowdale goalkeeper Ashley Routh. The Panthers took the one-goal advantage into halftime.

Seattle Prep added a second goal in the 51st minute when McAuley launched a throw-in nearly 30 yards directly on target to Kalynn Huebner, who headed the ball into the goal. McAuley managed the throw-ins the entire game for Seattle Prep and her ability to throw the ball so far and high into the air gave the Mavericks problems throughout the contest.

“They have a tremendous weapon with the long throw-in,” Foley said. “That’s tough to defend against because she can direct it right at the keeper. To have that as a weapon in your game, it makes a big difference.”

McAuley struggled with her accuracy on the long throw-ins early in the game, but in the second half, with the ball on the Mavericks’ side of the field, she was spot on.

“It was right at the heart of the goal,” Foley said. “Anytime you get a ball coming in that hard and at that height, somebody’s just got to get a quick foot to it (to score) and I think that is part of their strategy.”

In the case of Huebner’s goal, it was a quick head.

The Mavericks didn’t quit, though. Less than five minutes later, in the 55th minute, Rebecca Pulaski beat Panthers goalkeeper Abby Rockwell to cut Seattle Prep’s lead to 2-1. Alisa Sagdahl assisted on Pulaski’s goal.

The Mavericks would spend the final 25 minutes of the game trying to find the equalizer, but it never happened.

“We never gave up,” Foley said. “That’s one of the things that these girls have done consistently through the season is just continue to fight and fight until the end. So yeah, I thought as long as the clock was still running that we had a chance.”

Meadowdale’s fight impressed Seattle Prep coach Andy Hendricks, who picked up his 300th career win earlier this month in a quarterfinal victory over Shorecrest.

“They’re a tough team,” Hendricks said. “They’d fit well in (the Metro League), and we don’t take anybody in Metro lightly when I say that.”

Foley said he was proud of all his team has accomplished.

“We exceeded our expectations,” he said. “We’ve outlasted those original expectations and what we are doing now is just the icing on the cake. It’s tremendous of the girls’ heart and their ability to come in here and fight day in and day out and really want it. They believe. They believed they could get here and here we are. So we are going to continue to fight in that next game and we will see how that one turns out.

“Just being here is a great experience for the girls.”