Big play lifts Stanwood
Published 9:00 pm Friday, November 17, 2006
LAKEWOOD – Good soccer can come from unexpected places. Just ask the Stanwood Spartans.
“Stanwood’s definitely unknown,” said Stanwood High School senior Kelsey Cline. “We’re a little town from the north, but we know we’re good and we like to perform.”
Scratch the unknown part, because the Stanwood girls soccer team’s most recent performance will command plenty of attention.
Cline scored the game-winning goal in the 69th minute to lift Stanwood to a 1-0 victory over the Mead Panthers on Friday night in a Class 4A state semifinal at Harry Lang Stadium. In its first-ever state semifinal appearance, Stanwood (16-1-4) broke through when Cline, a midfielder, scored her eighth goal of the season on an assist from fellow senior Lauren Hansen.
“In big games you just have to make big plays,” said Cline, who drilled a 15-yard shot into the upper-left corner of the net. “Leadership definitely came into play and we were able (to get) one good combination on the field that led to the goal.”
The successful combo, which started with precise touches by freshman Riley Henderson and senior Michelle Aikens, propelled Stanwood into a matchup against Woodinville (14-3-4) for the championship at 8 p.m. tonight at Harry Lang Stadium. Woodinville scored three goals in the first 10 minutes en route to a 4-0 victory over Eastlake earlier on Friday.
Goalkeeper Sarahann Jackson (four saves) made some key second-half stops to earn her 14th shutout of the season for Stanwood, which lost in the quarterfinals in its only other state tourney trip in 1996. The Spartans have never won a state title in soccer or any team sport. The closest they’ve been were two runner-up finishes (3A boys track in 1987 and 3A football in 1973).
Asked if she is surprised how far her team has come, Stanwood coach Lori Stunz said, “Our goal was to make state and travel the 93 miles (from Stanwood High to Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood). This is all icing.”
Mead (15-3-2) plays Eastlake (16-2-2) for third place at 2 p.m. today.
Stanwood and Mead ended the first half locked in a scoreless tie. Stanwood fired the first three shots, but didn’t generate much offense the final 20 minutes of the opening period.
Meanwhile, Mead gradually took control and tallied all four of its first-half shots over the final 25 minutes. The Panthers came tantalizingly close to scoring with 13:40 to go in the first half, but Stanwood’s Jackson dove to her left to grab a header that was flying toward the right half of the goal mouth.
“In the first half, I don’t know if it was the (playing surface) or what,” Stunz said, “but it just seemed like a game of ping pong. … Neither team really possessed the ball well.”
Mead played tight defense on Stanwood’s Hansen (23 goals this season) in the first 40 minutes, holding the star forward without a shot attempt.
The game seemed headed for overtime until Cline scored in the 69th minute after Stanwood found a rare opening in the Mead defense. Hansen controlled the ball in the middle of the field and passed to the right to Cline, who beat Mead keeper Makenzie Swift.
“Right when that ball started coming over (to Hansen), all of the (Mead defenders) started sucking over,” Hansen said, “and it just left Kelsey wide open.” “At first I was like, ‘Don’t miss, don’t miss,’” Hansen said. “It was a perfect shot.”
At Harry Lang Stadium, Lakewood
Goals-Stanwood: Cline. Assists-Stanwood: Hansen. Goalkeepers-Stanwood: Jackson. Mead: Swift. Records-Stanwood 16-1-4 overall. Mead 15-3-2.
