Shorewood boys soccer opens State with 5-0 win
Published 11:44 pm Friday, May 22, 2026
EDMONDS — The Shorewood boys soccer team wasted no time imposing itself to start another run in the state tournament.
Seeded No. 2 at 19-0-1, the undefeated Stormrays took on the No. 18 Mountain View Mighty Thunder of Vancouver in a round of 16 game on Friday night. Shorewood, fresh off its fourth straight District 1 title, won the contest 5-0.
It was Shorewood’s sixth clean sheet in its last seven contests while junior forward Taj Babayev recorded a brace (26’, 74’). Junior defender Caleb Butler (58’), senior forward Nikola Genadiev (6’) and senior defender Tally Lord (66’) all found goals as well, scoring from set pieces and individual strikes alike. Genadiev also managed an assist on Butler’s goal.
The win moved the Stormrays to a Saturday quarterfinal berth vs. No. 7 Eastside Catholic as Shorewood looks to follow up on a second-place finish last season.
On Friday, head coach Shaun Warner’s squad didn’t so much as allow Mountain View (11-8-0) a touch in Shorewood’s third for the first 10 minutes of the game. With Genadiev (19 goals, 11 assists in 2026) starting the scoring off with a left-footed high strike to make it 1-0 in the sixth, the Stomrays were in control from the very start.
“It was huge,” Warner said of the start. “When you have a team that hasn’t played us before, and you see we have the second seed and that we’re undefeated… they’re going to come in a little bit nervous. For us to establish, like, yeah, we are real, I think was awesome.”
The Thunder, however, showed they belonged with some solid shots to test Shorewood keeper Kaare Nye, but nothing too threatening. By the 21st minute, Shorewood defender Meiron Bereket drew a free kick just outside the left side of the penalty box.
Genadiev, who scored off a similar free kick in the district title game a week prior, crossed the ball out of the end line as there was a bit of miscommunication on the pitch on whether he’d shoot it again. Still, the Stormrays were intent on making their set pieces count.
Three minutes later, senior midfielder Isak Medhaug’s corner kick nearly scored all on its own as the ball swung in and hit the crossbar. Just two minutes later, Shorewood earned a deep throw-in. Genadiev put it in the box and watched as chaos ensued.
Mountain View couldn’t get the clearance it desperately tried for, as the ball found Shorewood’s striker for the day in Babayev.
As one of Shorewood’s top scorers this season, Babayev put it away quickly to double the lead. The junior, who looks up to former Premier League Player of the Season Jamie Vardy, takes pride in doing the dirty work in close.
“The box, as a striker, is my area,” Babayev said. “Whenever I’m in the box… I’m the owner of this area, so I have to make a statement.”
Babayev typically comes off the bench behind Kai Ayers, something Warner sees as an advantage for the junior.
“I love it because he has this chip on his shoulder because of that of, ‘watch this, coach,’” Warner said. “He’s done a really good job in that role.”
The Thunder weren’t so quick to give up on their season in the loser-out contest, as junior Diego Garcia Chavez sent Nye diving for a save. Genadiev forced a save himself, and Babayev did the same in first-half stoppage time to swing the momentum fully toward Shorewood with 40 minutes to play.
In the 53rd, Genadiev fought through contact on the right wing, dribbling through multiple defenders to take a shot that was saved once again by Mountain View’s Allan Zuniga.
But time was running out on the Thunder as Shorewood began dominating chances.
The dam broke in the 58th as Shorewood set up for another corner kick from Genadiev. The ball sailed over the crowd to find a waiting Butler at the far post.
Butler buried it for his fifth score of the season as Warner was pleased with his team’s ability to make the set piece count.
“I’ve been in this league for 20-plus years doing this… what hurt teams in State is either giving up too many set pieces and not defending them correctly, and then not capitalizing when you win them,” Warner said.
With a 3-0 advantage, Warner began rotating substitutes into the game to keep his starters fresh, bringing four players on in the 62nd alone. In the 64th, Tally Lord got loose on the left wing.
At halftime, Warner had a simple message for the defensive-minded senior with a knack for dribbling.
“I go, ‘There is no one in this stadium that can guard you,’” Warner said. “(Lord) was playing very team-friendly in the first half, passing the ball. Even when he was dribbling, he was always looking to pass.”
Lord responded by beating two defenders with ease, working to the left side of the end line alone. Uncontested, Lord blasted a shot to the far post to make Shorewood’s fourth goal of the game look easy.
“He just woke up,” Warner said of Lord’s second half.
Babayev got his second to make it 5-0 10 minutes later, as a free kick from senior midfielder Dominic Dalasta was pushed away by Zuniga.
Babayev, much like his icon in Varney, waited patiently for the rebound and struck it back in to leave no doubt for Shorewood.
While it was the Stormrays’ biggest offensive output in three weeks, the defensive identity Warner’s squad is built on showed up yet again. Bereket drew key fouls to stop Mountain View breakaways while Nye earned his clean sheet with a few dynamic saves.
For Butler, The Herald’s 2025 Boys Soccer Defensive Player of the Year, getting a shutout on this stage is no coincidence.
“Experience, I think, is huge. ‘Cause we’ve been in these situations before. We kept the same back four from last year,” Butler said, referring to key pieces like Lord, George Clark, Bereket and others. “We know the importance of keeping clean sheets in a game like this so we can carry the momentum into tomorrow.”
With the big win, Warner and his staff were consistently able to rotate their players in and out of the game to lessen the wear ahead of the Eastside Catholic game the very next day.
“Our entire roster played tonight,” Warner said. “Most of our guys only played half a game.”
