Marysville-Pilchuck wins soccer game in shootout

Published 7:37 pm Wednesday, September 15, 2010

MARYSVILLE — When pressure cranks up and all eyes are on her, goalkeeper Lauren Schoonover follows a simple but effective plan: Get cocky.

After 90 minutes of scoreless high school girls soccer Tuesday, Schoonover’s surge of self-confidence allowed her to make a save during a penalty-kick shootout. The senior’s big stop helped the unbeaten Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks pull off a 1-0 victory over the Lake Stevens Vikings in a Western Conference North Division battle.

Schoonover, a fourth-year varsity player and third-year starter, made several impressive saves that kept M-P (3-0 North Division, eight points) afloat through two 40-minute halves and two 5-minute overtime periods against a quick, active Lake Stevens team (1-1 North, four points; 2-1 overall) that had numerous scoring chances.

Then in the shootout Schoonover reacted quickly and caught Lake Stevens’ second kick, a shot by Ashley Saracino. It was a crucial play as M-P went on to win the shootout 4-3.

Going to a shootout is intimidating, Schoonover said, “but you’ve got to learn to deal with it. You kind of get cocky, because if you go into it nervous it doesn’t work out very well for you. You’ve got to go into it positive.”

M-P players scored all four of their shootout attempts. The shooters were Hannah Wagner, Mackenzie Nolte, Rebecca Lentz and Kendahl Beecher.

Beecher’s kick flew past Lake Stevens goalkeeper Kiaya Paulsen and into the right half of the goal mouth, giving M-P a 4-3 lead. Lake Stevens’ next shooter, Randi Mielke, missed wide right, ending the game.

Technically, M-P won. But both teams walked away with something. Based on a new point system adopted by Wesco this season, a shootout win is worth two points and a shootout loss is worth one point.

“It’s tough to be this tight in a game and then just go to PKs,” M-P coach Gary Riozzi said, “but that’s how they want the league this year.”

It was a costly outing for M-P. Several Tomahawks — including Lauren Nolte, Alexandria Wright and Danielle Norton — left the game because of injuries. Riozzi did not know the severity of the injuries.

In the scoreless first half, Lake Stevens generated more dangerous attacks but M-P’s defense — including Schoonover and three first-year starting defenders — passed every test. Schoonover made at least three saves in the half, including a diving stop in the 31st minute and a nice close-range denial in the 33rd minute.

Lake Stevens applied more pressure in the second half but didn’t score despite several close calls, a few of which induced groans of disappointment from Vikings players and fans.

“That’s just the game. You’ve got to finish,” upbeat Lake Stevens coach Andy Knutson said. Despite the missed opportunities, “we felt really good about how we played and how we competed.”

The deciding factor, Knutson said, was M-P’s Schoonover, who chased down shots high and low, and constantly shouted directions to keep her defense organized.

“Their keeper is awesome,” Knutson said. “She’s the difference.”

It was a historic contest for M-P: The first varsity event of any kind played on Quil Ceda Stadium’s new artificial turf. The synthetic playing surface replaced a grass surface that always turned into a chewed-up, muddy mess every fall and spring.

The teams made the best of a technical glitch that caused coaches and officials to consider postponing the game. Due to a Tuesday circuit-breaker malfunction, most of the stadium lights were off. Clusters of lights on two tall metal poles lit one sideline well, but on the other sideline — where fans sat and none of the major light sources worked — it was dim and difficult to identify players.

But the players got through it, and M-P capped its inaugural game on the new turf in style.

Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam and follow Cane on Twitter at MikeCaneHerald.