Shorewood boys soccer rallies to state semis

Published 4:00 pm Saturday, May 23, 2026

SHORELINE — Fresh off their fourth consecutive District 1 title, which took a 3-2 comeback win over Lynnwood to earn, the 2025 state 3A tournament runner-up found itself down 2-0 to No. 7 Eastside Catholic in Saturday afternoon’s state 3A quarterfinal.

The No. 2 Stormays (20-0-1) met on the field to talk things over at the half, but head coach Shaun Warner noticed one thing was missing from the demeanors of his team fully composed of juniors and seniors.

Panic.

His team had allowed two penalty-kick goals off a handball and a foul inside the box, but didn’t look fazed in the slightest.

“Honestly, even when we went down the second goal, the message was we’ve been there before,” Warner said, having seen his team beat Shorecrest in league play after trailing 2-0 earlier in the season. “Our team is a team that can score in bunches, and so no — I don’t think there was any panic.”

Sure enough, senior Ian Baxter worked the right side to deliver a cross to striker Kai Ayers for a quick goal seconds into the half to reignite the home crowd at Shoreline Stadium.

Just five minutes later, a deep throw-in found junior Caleb Butler for his second goal in as many games. Even with all the momentum after the equalizer, the Stormrays sprinted back to midfield to resume play as if they were still chasing a goal.

In a sense, they were.

In the 74th, senior Meiron Bereket headed a ball back into Eastside Catholic’s box with junior Julian Shook waiting far post. Shook struck it with his off foot, the right one, for a game-winner in a State playoff game. His teammates mobbed him, piling on top of their hero.

“It was the best feeling I’ve ever felt in my soccer career,” Shook said with a smile postgame. “It was fantastic.”

The Stormrays (20-0-1) were heading back to Sparks Stadium in Puyallup for a state semifinal game for the second straight season off a 3-2 win that looked to be a long shot just 40 minutes prior.

“It’s just our brotherhood,” Bereket said of how the Stormrays mustered the comeback. “This is God, and He gave us the opportunity to get into the semifinals.”

It wasn’t just the scoreline that had the Crusaders (15-4-3) in control by the halftime break.

Eastside Catholic was consistently winning duels to keep the Stormrays, who didn’t manage any threatening looks early, out of its box. Shorewood wings like Baxter, captain Nikola Genadiev and Shook all ran into stiff competition from a talented EC backline, including standout sophomore Jackson Leary.

Shorewood was coming off a Friday win in which they beat Mountain View 5-0, but struggled to replicate that magic.

The teams traded physical tackles early as Shorewood came in with six shutouts in its past seven contests. Eastside Catholic’s Evan Kim slid to dispossess a Shorewood attacker on the endline in the 13th minute, but managed to hit it off the Stormray to force a goal kick.

The Crusaders made that kind of moment a theme, not allowing the Stormrays to pay off long runs with set pieces or shots.

“It didn’t seem like anything was going our way,” Baxter said of playing the wing.

The Stomrays finally got a corner kick in the 19th, but watched as it was cleared away to end the danger.

Three minutes later, disaster struck as the Crusaders played a ball long toward the north end of the stadium.

With the wind favoring that side, a Shorewood defender misjudged the bounce and put his arm up for a handball in the penalty area. Eastside sophomore Kian Riley Mallari calmly buried the penalty kick to the left side to put the Crusaders up 1-0.

Five minutes later, Eastside senior Aiden-Marley Saga worked the right wing. He was tripped up in the box with enough contact to draw a second penalty kick for the Crusaders.

He took the penalty himself, and even though Shorewood keeper Kaare Nye guessed Saga would also go left, the pace of the shot forced it through.

The Stormrays ramped up the intensity, but the Crusaders held strong. Eastside consistently got two bodies on Shorewood’s wingers and even threatened to add a third goal when Nye and Leary collided near the goal.

Both returned after staying down a while, as Nye had the wind knocked out of him, according to Warner.

By the time the halftime whistle blew, it simply looked like Eastside’s day.

But the Stormrays’ leadership refused to go quietly.

Senior captain Isak Medhaug rallied his team by speaking from the heart.

“I believe in these boys. I know it wasn’t going to end here,” Medhaug said. “I knew we had the quality to come back… I just spoke from the heart, basically just said, ‘We’ve come so far, we have the ability. We should tap into our family emotions and just play as a group, because I know we could get it done.”

Seeing the quieter Medhaug speak with such emotion resonated with his teammates.

“The words he said, it empowered everyone to play better. I want to play better for one another,” Shook said.

The most empowered person on the pitch was Baxter right out of the half.

Just 30 seconds after kickoff, he put the struggles of the first half behind him and broke through to find a wide-open Ayers in front of the goal.

“This is gonna be the last game at Shoreline Stadium, how do we want to remember it?” Baxter said of his motivation. “We’re gonna put everything out there on the field and we came out with more fire than them.”

Logistically speaking, Warner was counting on a few factors to help his team close the gap. The wind, now being in Shorewood’s favor as the teams switched sides, helped senior Daniel Bruno play the long ball to Baxter to set him up, while Shorewood’s depth allowed his wings and strikers to stay fresh.

“The amount of depth that we have, no team can go 80 minutes with us,” Ayers said. “First half, they’re gonna come out strong, but they’re gonna be so tired by the second half.”

In the 46th, Warner showcased the depth by bringing on his throw-in specialist, Christian Costello, to put the ball in a dangerous spot. That Costello did, finding Butler in the middle of the fray for the equalizer.

With the momentum flipped to Shorewood, the Stormrays started to win a vast majority of the duels — a far cry from the first 40 minutes.

Shorewood managed a corner in the 51st that Eastside Catholic keeper Gunnar Dark was forced to punch away, while Shook earned a free kick on the left side. It was delivered short to Medhaug, whose blazing shot nearly missed the frame.

Shook flashed again in the 62, unleashing a dynamic run to the top of Eastside’s box for a shot that barely sailed. Ayers did the same, forcing a deflection from Dark two minutes later.

“Someone said, ‘Man, you guys look so different in the second half,’” Warner recounted. “I told the guys, I don’t think that’s what it is. I think we just wear teams down. We start to look better because they’re just too tired to track us.”

In the 74th, Shorewood watched their corner kick get played to Bereket on the right side of the box.

“I didn’t specifically see anyone. I saw (Shook) back post, I hit it to him,” Bereket said.

Of course, Shook put the chance away with his right foot as the Stormrays tackled their junior in joy.

“It’s just so much composure by him,” Warner said. “Couldn’t get his shot anywhere near frame (in the first half)… for him to not be hard on himself, pick that moment, score that goal, what a moment for him.”

Shorewood senior Tally Lord picked up an ankle injury in stoppage time, but was able to come off the field on his own power as his team held the Crusaders at midfield to see out the hard-fought victory.

The Stormrays could finally turn their attention to the semifinals as they get set to face the winner of No. 11 Bishop Blanchet and No. 3 Silas on Friday.

“Every team from here on out is gonna be talented, they’re gonna work hard, they’re gonna want it,” Baxter said. “It’s just a matter of who wants it more. I hope that we go out and show that we want it the most.”