Warriors shut out Marysville Pilchuck 1-0, earn 3A state berth
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, October 31, 2017
EDMONDS — After a one-year hiatus, the Edmonds-Woodway girls soccer team is headed back to the state tournament.
Sophomore forward Kyra Hicks netted a 15th-minute goal as the third-seeded Warriors punched their ticket to state with a 1-0 win over sixth-seeded Marysville Pilchuck in a 3A District 1 semifinal Tuesday night at Edmonds Stadium.
It’s the fourth state-tournament berth in five years for the Warriors, who won the state title in 2014 and placed third in 2015.
“It’s awesome,” Edmonds-Woodway coach Bill LeCompte said of his team’s state-clinching win. “We’ve been there a few times, and for our senior class to get back is a great, great honor. It’s just a testament to a lot of hard work.”
The Warriors (11-3-3) play for the district championship Saturday against fifth-seeded Marysville Getchell, which earned its first-ever state-tournament berth with a 1-0 win over Shorecrest in the other semifinal.
Edmonds-Woodway punched its ticket to state Tuesday with another stellar defensive performance, recording its 10th shutout of the season.
The Warriors have allowed just nine goals all season and have notched five consecutive shutouts, including a 2-0 blanking of Squalicum in the district quarterfinal.
“We’re still striving for a full 80,” LeCompte said after the semifinal victory. “But we played pretty darn close to that tonight.”
Edmonds-Woodway set up the match’s lone goal by pressuring Marysville Pilchuck (9-8-1) in the Warriors’ attacking third.
Hicks came up with the ball behind the Tomahawks’ back line, setting up a one-on-one situation against Marysville Pilchuck goalkeeper Hanna Koehn from just above the 18-yard box.
As Koehn came charging out, Hicks calmly slotted the ball past her and into the back of the net.
“Kyra has moved up from the (junior varsity) and done a phenomenal job for us since coming up,” LeCompte said. “Very proud of her.”
Senior goalkeeper Hannah Hicks keyed the shutout with brilliant performance, including a leaping save on a 72nd-minute shot that was soaring toward the upper-left corner of the net.
“Hannah’s been doing that for three years now,” LeCompte said. “It’s a privilege to have such a good goalkeeper sitting in the frame.
“When it all breaks down, she’s finding a way to make some saves and keep us in a game. And she did it again tonight. She’s just a tremendous athlete.”
With the loss, Marysville Pilchuck falls to the loser’s bracket of the district tournament. The Tomahawks need to win two consecutive elimination matches to reach state for the third time in program history.
