Seattle Prep ousts Arlington from state soccer tournament

Published 10:53 am Saturday, November 12, 2016

ARLINGTON — Regardless of how much Arlington prepared for and knew about Seattle Prep’s speed and skill, no simulation or Wesco 3A schedule could have readied the Eagles for the defending Class 3A state champion.

For all the success Arlington has enjoyed this year — winning a league championship, capturing a district title, earning a state berth — Seattle Prep proved it simply had too much athleticism and technical skill for coach Nathan Davis’ Eagles.

“Quite honestly, they are good,” Davis said. “We are good, too, but they were a little faster at times to the ball. Part of that is playing in Metro and KingCo. It’s a little bit faster speed of play.”

Flaunting myriad goal scorers, Seattle Prep entered Saturday’s 3A state quarterfinal undefeated and having scored at least two goals in every match this season. The Panthers quickly displayed that scoring prowess, added on midway through the first half and ran away with a 3-0 win.

Seattle Prep’s Helena Reischling recorded two first-half goals, and Elizabeth Franklin added a second-half score.

The loss ended the season for Arlington (16-4-1), but this campaign marked the third straight season the Eagles have reached at least the state quarters. Before that, Arlington hadn’t been to state since 1995.

“It’s kind of historical for the seniors,” Davis said. “I would say we are a top-five team. We were playing the No. 1 team in the state, and we gave them a battle. The seniors themselves had a phenomenal career here.”

Saturday’s loss wasn’t due to a lack of effort, but Arlington dedicated so much energy and resources to its defensive third that when the Eagles finally worked the ball into the attacking third, they ran out of steam time and time again.

Arlington created a few threatening chances, but nothing that seriously tested Seattle Prep goalkeeper Audrey Aggen.

The Panthers finished with an 11-3 shots-on-goal edge, and they started peppering the goal right from the start.

Five minutes in, Reischling snuck behind Arlington’s defense and had a breakaway, one-on-one with Eagles goalkeeper Brielle Schrader. Reischling calmly sent a low shot from left to right past into the bottom-left corner of the net to give Seattle Prep a 1-0 lead.

“Our goal is to get goals,” Seattle Prep coach Andy Hendricks said with a laugh. “We have not been shut out all year, so we were pretty confident we would get one. We talked about countering their counter, and that is what kind of opened up the first goal.”

Less than 15 minutes later, Reischling struck again. This time the sophomore midfielder scored off a nice bit of individual work. She received a pass roughly 20 yards from goal, deked a defender to create some open space and placed a shot into the upper-left corner of the net past Schrader.

Just like that, Arlington’s chances for a return trip to the semifinals seemed less like a real possibility and much more like a pipe dream.

“We didn’t possess and attack as well as we’d like to,” Davis said. “We had chances down here, and then we got a little too careless with the ball. There is no room for error. Their back four is really, really good. You can get away with stuff two weeks ago or even a week ago that you just can’t get away with in a match like tonight.”

Seattle Prep put the finishing touches on its win in the 60th minute when Franklin scored from close range.

Arlington pressed hard during the final minutes, but couldn’t breakdown Seattle Prep’s sturdy backline.

“All of the seniors have had a great run,” Davis said. “This is the first year we have ever won a league title and a district title. Pretty special for that group.”