SHORELINE — Ben Hanson spent 78 minutes waiting for his moment.
The Edmonds-Woodway High School junior, one of the standout forwards on the Warriors’ boys soccer team, spent most of the game being man marked into ineffectiveness.
But Hanson finally wriggled free to fire home the go-ahead goal with time winding down, and the Warriors completed a dramatic comeback to defeat the Arlington Eagles 4-2 in a winner-to-state, loser-out District 1 3A game Saturday afternoon at Shoreline Stadium.
The fourth-seeded Warriors (13-4-2) rallied from a two-goal deficit, with goals from Victor Ibarra and Edgar Cabrera tying the score at 2-2, before Hanson struck twice in three minutes to send Edmonds-Woodway to state for the first time since 2016.
“It was a rough start, going down 2-0,” Hanson said. “But we really came together as a team and pulled it out. We just got less sloppy. We started making our passes, and also our effort was there the whole game.”
Cameron Mooring and Kiyoshi Hall scored for sixth-seeded Arlington, which ended its season 12-8-0.
Arlington bossed the game in the first half, and the Warriors seemed destined to head into halftime trailing 2-0. However, a moment of fortune got Edmonds-Woodway back into it. There appeared to be no danger as the Arlington defense went to clear a long ball, but the clearance cannoned off Ibarra’s legs and rolled 20 yards back into the net to make it a one-goal game at halftime.
Then it wasn’t until midway through the second half that the Warriors began asserting themselves. Edmonds-Woodway twice hit the post before tying it in the 67th minute. Ryan Hanby’s shot of the post created chaos in the box, and eventually the ball squirted free to Cabrera on the left, who tucked it home to tie it up.
From there it was all Warriors, and with overtime beckoning it was Hanson who won it for Edmonds-Woodway. Ibarra’s shot from 30 yards out was deflected into the box, where it fell in front of Hanson. Hanson fended off a defender before calmly slotting into the right corner to give the Warriors the lead in the 78th minute.
Hanson then put the game away moments later. A long goal kick got over the Arlington defense. Hanson again fended off a defender before this time slotting into the left corner to seal the victory.
“At halftime the discussion was that we needed to increase the chances on goal and be a little dangerous,” Edmonds-Woodway coach Michael Ochoa said. “Some of the substitutes came in really stepped up and were able to do that, along with Ben. He’s one of the leading goal scorers on the team, so him getting two really pumped us up a little more.”
Arlington struck first in the 20th minute. Aidan Raney’s long throw-ins were a constant threat throughout the game, and on a throw from the right Mooring flicked home a near-post header to stake the Eagles to a 1-0 lead.
Arlington doubled its advantage in the 35th minute. This time Mooring played provider, lifting a delicate cross from the right over the defense and into the path of Hall, who was able to redirect the ball past stranded goalkeeper Gabe Wilhelm to make it 2-0.
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