ARLINGTON — Sooner or later, the Arlington girls soccer team figured a ball had to go in.
After dominating possession for most of the game, Olivia Larson and the Eagles finally broke through with a goal in the 56th minute to lead Arlington to a 1-0 victory over Stanwood in a Wesco 3A contest Wednesday night at Arlington High School.
“I thought we had great possession tonight,” Arlington head coach Nathan Davis said. “It was a little bit frustrating that we had so many chances — I think the girls were getting a little frustrated, too. But man, we were really possessing the ball well. I think we had like 90 percent of the possession so you get a little frustrated that one won’t go in.”
Both teams had scoring opportunities in the first half, although the Eagles led Stanwood with eight shots on goal to the Spartans’ three. Perhaps Arlington’s best chance in the half came in the 14th minute when Stanwood goalkeeper Kaitlin Larson saved one shot that deflected to another Eagles forward who saw her shot sail just high of the goal.
In the second half the Eagles finally got one in the back of the net. Junior McKenzie Buell passed the ball to Olivia Larson and the senior collected the ball, dribbled and fired it past a very busy Kaitlin Larson.
“We just talked about not overstriking the ball,” Davis said. “You don’t have to kill it. We’re just trying to put a ball away. … That was a great combination between McKenzie and Olivia. That was sweet.”
With their Stilly Cup rivals continuing to battle, Davis and the Eagles fought for an insurance goal in the game’s final 30 minutes. But once again, neither team could score as Arlington hung on to clinch the victory.
“When you’re playing a rivalry game you know it’s always going to be intense and you finally get that one and it’s a little bit of relief,” Davis said. “But 1-0 in a soccer game is nothing. It’s like you’re still tied — or down — almost. You have that panic feeling where you’re rushing.”
Stanwood head coach Lori Stunz said her young Spartans squad had their hands full with Arlington. Unlike the experienced Eagles side, which features just two sophomores on the roster with the rest being upperclassmen, Stanwood lists just three seniors and six juniors.
“They’re always hard-fought games (against Arlington),” Stunz said. “Nathan puts together a good squad. Looking down his roster (it’s) 11 seniors, nine juniors and two sophomores.
“Looking down our roster we’re a little diaper squad (with) teeny-tiny babies,” Stunz added with a smile. “We’ll get there.”
Stanwood was not at full strength in the match, with several players out do to illness. The Spartans were also without one of their biggest offensive weapons in Espy Sanchez, who injured her ankle in Stanwood’s 2-1 victory over Everett on Monday.
Stunz isn’t sure when Sanchez will be cleared to resume playing.
“She’s out for potentially another match. We’re not sure,” Stunz said. “At least she’s not on crutches anymore.”
Senior defender Lisette Vargas and midfielder Camryn Cross help lead the younger Spartans. As did Larson, Stanwood’s sophomore goalkeeper.
“We’re really young,” Stunz said. “We graduated three seniors out of our backline last year, so we’re just kind of playing around with some different combinations in the back and are slotting in a few freshmen back there to get them some minutes.”
Senior goalkeeper Kat Sanchez recorded the shutout in goal for Arlington (3-2-0 league, 6-3-0 overall). Davis said getting the win over Stanwood (3-1-1, 5-2-2), which remains ahead of the Eagles in the standings, was crucial in the Eagles’ goal of battling to qualify for the district tournament and make another deep postseason run.
“It’s huge,” Davis said. “They’re ahead of us in the table. You’ve got to win on your home field in a game when they’re up on us (in the standings). Hopefully it gives us some energy going into the second half (of the season). Our goal is to get to districts and advance to where we were at — state — last year.”
At Arlington H.S.
Goals—Olivia Larson (A). Assists–McKenzie Buell (A). Goalkeepers—Stanwood: Kaitlin Larson. Arlington: Kat Sanchez. Records—Stanwood 3-1-1 league, 5-2-2 overall. Arlington 3-2-0, 6-3-0.
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