Meadowdale wins state playoff opener

Published 11:03 am Thursday, February 28, 2008

After enduring a three-hour trek south to Vancouver, Wash., the Meadowdale girls soccer team didn’t want to come home empty-handed.

The Mavericks played to a 2-2 tie in regulation and overtime before goalkeeper Tricia McMillan and forward Courtney Hughes made sure the Mavericks’ bus ride home was pure celebration, zero road rage.

McMillan made three straight saves in the shootout and Hughes scored the deciding goal as Meadowdale knocked off Columbia River 3-2 in a first round Class 3A state tournament game Nov. 10 at the Kiggins Bowl.

Meadowdale (12-6-2) hosts a quarterfinal matchup against Mercer Island tonight (Friday, Nov. 14) at Edmonds Stadium.

The Mavericks were ready to roll, especially after the unusually long road trip, Meadowdale coach Sean Griffin said.

“The girls were pumped up,” he said. “They did not want to in any way risk driving down there three hours and going home winless.”

But after Meadowdale connected on its first four kicks in the shootout, the outlook became bleak. The Mavericks missed two straight tries, putting all the pressure on senior goalie McMillan.

“I thought the game was over,” Griffin said, “but that’s when (McMillan) came up big.”

With Meadowdale’s season on the line, McMillan stopped three straight Columbia River shots, giving the Mavericks one more chance.

They didn’t waste it, as Hughes, Meadowdale’s seventh kicker, connected to give the Mavericks a 5-4 shootout edge.

McMillan literally saved the game.

“That was incredible,” Griffin said of the goalie’s clutch stops.

Hughes made an unexpected but wise decision on her winning shot, Griffin added. He assumed Hughes would shoot on the ground, but Columbia River’s shootout goalkeeper Kat Tarr had been diving to her right to stop shots. Hughes chose top right and the Mavericks won.

“It was a good choice,” Griffin said.

Meadowdale led 1-0 early when Brooke Simons scored off Jessica Duty’s corner kick in the sixth minute.

“I think the other team was deceived,” Griffin said, noting that Columbia River seemed to take the Mavericks lightly at first. But “they realized we weren’t sluggish or pushovers.”

Leading 2-1 in the final minutes, Meadowdale seemed headed to a victory in regulation. But Columbia River’s Maggie Kuzmer took advantage of a foul called just outside the box and scored on a free kick in the 78th minute to force overtime.

“We should have won the game in regulation,” Griffin said. “I felt like overall we had better opportunities.”

Freshman midfielder Laura Gifford scored Meadowdale’s second regulation goal in the 41st minute.

In winning, the Mavericks overcame Tarr’s many talents. Tarr, a senior midfielder/forward, assisted on Columbia River’s first goal in the 38th minute, then switched to goalie at her teammate’s request for the shootout.

“She’s gonna be the best,” Griffin said of Tarr. “She can do anything out there.”

But Meadowdale defender Alexandra Dunsdon made sure Tarr didn’t do too much on offense. “Dunsdon marked her,” Griffin said. “She prevented her (Tarr) from getting any good (scoring) looks. I was very impressed.”

ROYALS ELIMINATED: Lynnwood’s season came to an end with a 4-1 loss to Squalicum in a winner-to-state/loser-out Northwest District 3A playoff game Nov. 8 at Bellingham’s Civic Field. Samantha Janssen scored Lynnwood’s lone goal.