EVERETT — The Cascade girls soccer team was intimidated heading into its showdown with Snohomish Tuesday night at Everett Memorial Stadium.
It didn’t show in the Bruins play, though, as the No. 2 team in the Wesco South was the aggressor taking it to the No. 1 team in the North standings in
a Wesco 4A crossover contest.
Neither team broke through on the scoreboard, however, and the game ended in a 0-0 double-overtime tie.
“I think what was intimidating was their reputation,” Cascade forward Megan Henry said.
Of late, the Panthers (8-1-1 league, 9-1-1) have looked like the best team in Wesco, while taking over the top spot in the North standings. Snohomish reeled off four straight wins after suffering what was their only blemish in a 1-0 loss to North No. 2 Lake Stevens. But Cascade (6-3-1, 7-3-1), winners of five of its last six, absorbed every blow by the Panthers.
“We came out thinking that we didn’t care how good they are,” Henry said. “We want to play as good as we can.”
Snohomish’s best scoring chances came early in the game, but the Panthers took one too many dribbles or shot right at Cascade keeper Rachel Leupold.
“We had four or five scoring opportunities that we did not put in the back of the net and that’s what it came down to,” Snohomish coach April VanAssche said. “I told my girls that it was not for a lack of effort. It was a lack of execution tonight. As a coach all I really ask for is 100 percent effort and that they leave it all out there and they did.”
In the 20th minute, Snohomish’s counterattacking offense got one of its best chances. Center defender Brooke Pingrey lobbed a pass over the entire Bruin back line onto the feet of Carissa Nuttal. The senior forward had midfielder Morgan Green on her left with both Panthers beyond the defense. Leupold committed to stop Nuttal, who took a shot that hit the right side of the exterior of the net rather than pass to the streaking Green.
Snohomish didn’t seriously threaten again until the final seconds of the half when Green zig-zagged through the defense and got off a buzzer beater shot that required a jumping save by Leupold above her head.
“We talk about it a lot throughout the season to take advantage of our opportunities,” VanAssche said. “It just comes down to composure and settling yourself in front of the goal. That’s something that we continue to work on throughout the season.”
Cascade’s best first-half chance came in the 36th minute when Henry took a perfectly-placed corner kick that bent behind Snohomish keeper Melissa Dreves. The only problem for the Bruins was there was no one there to finish and the Panthers cleared the scary chance.
The Bruins pushed hard in the second half, but struggled with finishing just like the Panthers.
“We like to dictate the pace of the game. We usually do that by knocking the ball around and getting people forward,” Cascade coach Jamie Gay said. “That’s our game: push tempo, push pressure.”
The Bruins play impressed VanAssche, who said she hadn’t scouted Cascade much before the game.
“A tie is not the worst thing,” the Snohomish coach said. “I think for this game tonight, it was a very good match. It was the hardest game we’ve had so far. They were our hardest competition.”
The tie vaults Cascade into sole possession of second place in the South thanks in part to Lake Stevens’ 1-0 win over Kamiak. Gay thinks his team can still push for the South crown.
“We are right there,” Gay said. “Now we get to play the teams from the South again. Those that we lost to were close one-goal games. These next four games against the south, every one is going to matter.”
The win by the Vikings means they now trail the Panthers by just one point in the North standings.
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