The Archbishop Murphy and Shorecrest boys soccer teams haven’t played each other this season and compete in different leagues, but they’re still on a collision course.
Archbishop Murphy dominated the Cascade Conference, finishing the regular season 14-0-0 in league and 15-0-1 overall, and are the No. 2 seed in the 2A District 1 tournament, which begins Saturday.
The Scots, meanwhile, moved from the 3A classification to 2A prior to the 2014-15 school year, but elected to keep their sports teams in the Wesco 3A South. Despite being the lone 2A school in the league, the boys soccer team finished first in league play with an 11-1-0 record. Based on their league finish, the Scots (14-1-1 overall) earned the No. 3 seed into the 2A district tournament.
If the Wildcats and Scots each win Saturday’s first-round games, they will meet in Tuesday’s semifinals.
“The entire season we’ve kind of talked about Shorecrest,” Archbishop Murphy junior co-captain Brady Henderson said. “We’re excited to play them and we hope we get to.”
According to Max Preps, Archbishop Murphy and Shorecrest are the second- and third-ranked 2A teams in the state, respectively. The Wildcats have earned their ranking, in part, by outscoring opponents 75-4 this season.
The lack of goals allowed indicates the Wildcats have a stellar defense, which they do, but Wildcats coach Michael Bartley said it actually starts with the offense.
“The big key for us is possession,” Bartley said. “We play possession really well, so if we keep the ball from (other teams), obviously they can’t score.”
The Wildcats’ philosophy of controlling possession has worked, but you don’t give up four goals in 16 games without a solid back line. The goalkeeping of sophomore starter Ryan Henderson and sophomore backup Trevor Johnston, along with senior defenders Gunnar Swenson and Ben Adams have made the Wildcats virtually impossible to score against.
“We get stretched out a little bit once in a while, but I’ve got two seniors (Swenson and Adams) in the back that are playing really well and I’ve got great goalkeeping,” Bartley said. “They can save us once in a while when we are too far forward.”
The defenders and goalkeepers also allow Bartley to be more aggressive with the way his team attacks.
“Between them and our goalkeeping, it allows our wing backs to get into the attack,” Bartley said. “We typically have good possession throughout and it allows us to keep the ball from the other team. Obviously our finishing has been really good too.”
The Wildcats average 4.69 goals per game, and their scoring has been spread out. Three players have at least 10 goals, including senior Gabe Astone and sophomore Matt Williams, who are tied for the team lead with 12.
Six other players have at least four goals for the Wildcats.
“There’s not really a stop one of us and you can change the game kind of thing,” Bartley said.
Meanwhile, Shorecrest has outscored its opponents 44-6. The goal differential may not seem as impressive as Murphy’s, but the Scots played all of their league games against 3A opponents — something Scots’ coach Drew Thompson said can only help his team in the postseason.
“I think it’s probably been good preparation for us,” Thompson said. “The Wesco 3A league this year, like always, is competitive, but I think there was probably a lot more parity in the league this year then we’ve had in the past. We had a lot of hard games this year.”
Playing teams that haven’t given up many goals won’t intimidate the Scots. Shorecrest won Monday’s game against Meadowdale 5-0. The Mavericks had given up just four goals in league games prior to that contest.
“The goals against, I think, is a very important stat, but I think all bets are off when it comes to playoffs,” Thompson said. “Anything can happen.”
Both Archbishop Murphy and Shorecrest made the state quarterfinals a year ago. The Wildcats’ season ended with a 3-2 loss to Sedro-Woolley in the 2A state playoffs. The Scots’ run was stopped with a 4-0 loss to Mercer Island in the 3A state playoffs.
Bartley said his team came up short in part because it failed to attack the way it had all season. His team is determined not to let that happen again this season.
“Shorecrest is a very strong and direct team,” Bartley said. “If we sit back, we are going to invite them to attack us and what we want to do is possess the ball and attack them.”
If Archbishop Murphy and Shorecrest survive the first round, the winner of their semifinal will have its hands full. Barring an upset on the other side of the bracket, defending 2A state champion Squalicum awaits the winner in the championship game.
The Storm, who are ranked No. 1 in the state by Max Preps, won the Northwest Conference for a second straight season, finishing 10-0-2 in league and 13-0-3 overall. It’s their second straight undefeated season and they haven’t lost a regular-season game in their past 46 outings.
“Those teams have always been in the back of our head,” Archbishop Murphy junior co-captain Parker Buchanan said, referring to Shorecrest and Squalicum. “All regular season we’ve been thinking about them and waiting for our chance to show … what we can do against them.”
Shorecrest is just as excited about the opportunities it has in the district tournament — and returning eight of 11 starters from last year’s team, the Scots have reason to be confident.
“The experience is huge,” Thompson said. “There is really no replacement for it. This group of guys has been great responding under pressure. They’re a very mature group of seniors. They get along very well. They’re like a family. It’s a good bunch of guys that I have this year.”
Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.
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