Edmonds-Woodway girls soccer downs Shorecrest, clinches state berth

SHORELINE — For the first time since 2018, Edmonds-Woodway girls soccer is State-bound.

The No. 4-seeded Warriors (12-4-3) found themselves in a similar position to make that sentence a reality, playing league rival and No. 2 seed Shorecrest (10-5-4) for the third time this season on Thursday in the final game of the 3A District 1 Tournament consolation bracket. Edmonds-Woodway was able to capture its first win against the Scots in 2025 as junior forward Bella Dreitzler’s late goal sealed the 2-1 victory.

With the win, the Warriors clinched a share of third place in the district and, more importantly, extended the seasons of their 10 seniors.

”It means more to me that I can keep playing with these girls every day,” senior defender Liliana Frank said, having scored the game’s opening goal early on. “We just knew we had to stay together.”

Indeed, Frank’s shot from around 20 yards out in the ninth minute flipped the game on its head, seeing as the Warriors were shut out two weeks ago against the Scots. She was able to size up and get a clean look as Shorecrest defenders didn’t seem to think she would shoot from that far.

“I didn’t tell (the team) this, but (the goal) meant everything pretty much,” second-year Edmonds-Woodway head coach Kim Plumis said. “We really needed that to settle in … if we score first, we’ve been successful and we’ve won matches.”

For Frank, it was simply a matter of do-or-die.

“Before the game, we talked about how it was this or nothing. And so when I’m taking that shot, I’m thinking it’s this or nothing,” Frank said. “It either goes in or it doesn’t go in, but I’m not gonna sit there and not take that shot.”

The Scots, who were looking for their fifth straight State appearance on Thursday night, didn’t flinch.

Shorecrest’s press turned it up a notch, rarely letting the Warriors back into their territory for the remainder of the half. Frank’s opening shot proved to be Edmonds-Woodway’s only real chance to score in the game’s opening stanza.

On the offensive end, Shorecrest junior midfielder Olivia Taylor made multiple individual runs of 20 or more yards with the ball to threaten the Warriors, and put shots on target against Warriors freshman keeper Morgan Smith, but nothing stuck.

Pressing the issue alongside Taylor was sophomore star midfielder Pip Watkinson. Watkinson got a chance to shine in the season’s biggest game after Taylor was fouled just outside of the 18-yard box in first-half stoppage time, leaving one of the area’s most dangerous scorers with a chance to equalize on a set piece.

Pip Watkinson, take a bow.

The Shorecrest sophomore ties it up on a perfect free kick take to the top right corner, it’s 1-1 with Edmonds-Woodway at halftime. Free kick drawn by Olivia Taylor.

Huge play in a winner-to-state, loser-out game.@HeraldNetPreps pic.twitter.com/X6ov6rJicB

— Qasim Ali (@qasimasports) November 7, 2025

With the weight of the season on the line, Watkinson delivered a picture-perfect strike to the top-right corner of the net, breathing new life into the Scots as the home crowd serenaded the budding star with chants of “Pip Pip, hooray!”

With its press limiting opposing looks and Taylor and Watkinson both in a rhythm, Shorecrest looked poised to control the second half.

But it was quite the opposite look in the back 40 minutes.

Warriors senior Abby Peterson made her impact felt with a strong shot in the 43rd, while Edmonds-Woodway put another shot on target two minutes later to make Shorecrest junior keeper Mickie McNeil do some heavy lifting. To make matters worse for the Scots, senior defender Emma Lund had to come out of the game with a lower-leg injury in the 62nd minute — she would not return.

In the 74th, Edmonds-Woodway broke through as Dreitzler launched a shot cross-goal to the top right corner. The ball’s trajectory kept lifting, as it seemed like her shot might sail by a few feet.

But Frank never doubted her teammate.

“I knew that that goal was going to go in, I knew that we were going to win this game no matter what,” Frank said.

Indeed, the shot fell just under the crossbar for a stunning go-ahead goal to make it 2-1.

The Scots scrambled to get the ball back in play, hoping for some late magic. A late corner and a saved shot from Taylor would signal Shorecrest’s last gasp as the final whistles rang, sending the Warriors into a joyful frenzy on the field.

The ensuing celebration, a team with 10 seniors lives to fight another day. pic.twitter.com/XseZIaaqhe

— Qasim Ali (@qasimasports) November 7, 2025

Plumis, who had been a part of the program for years as an assistant before stepping into the head coaching role, was proud of her squad to bring the 2014 state champs back into the fold.

“We’ve had a break, it’s something that Edmonds-Woodway has been trying to get back to,” Plumis said of the State berth. “It’s a part of our history that it’s an expectation that we’re playing in November.”

On the other end of Thursday’s result was Shorecrest skipper Mindy Dalziel, who saw her team’s run of four straight state berths come to a close. While it wasn’t the result anybody in the program wanted to see, Dalziel was grateful for the opportunity to coach a program that is turning a new leaf.

The Scots graduated 19 seniors in the past two seasons alone, fielding an entirely new squad in a short timeframe. It forced Dalziel to focus on younger prospects like Watkinson and other underclassmen contributors like sophomore forward Parker Almquist, as the future looks bright for a program just two seasons removed from a second-place finish at State.

“I grew as a coach,” Dalziel said of her experience with the 2025 Scots. “I learned a lot about how to connect with (the players) and it brought me back to kind of my roots and why I’m doing this.”

While the Scots reflect on a well-played campaign, the Warriors will be awaiting the final seeding of the state tournament to decide who and when they’ll play for their first-round matchup. State tournament games will be underway starting Nov. 11.