EDMONDS — Tony Gilman has been telling his Edmonds-Woodway soccer team that it could do this all season.
The Warriors are starting to believe.
Gilman’s Edmonds-Woodway squad turned in a dominating performance Friday night, with a 4-0 victory over Garfield in a 3A state quarterfinal matchup at Edmonds Stadium. The Warriors advanced to the 3A state semifinals where they face Mercer Island at 4 p.m. Friday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.
“Wow. We were due to have a game like this,” Gilman said. “We’ve been waiting for it all season long — to really play this well, especially against (Garfield, which) finished second at state last year.
“I think they’re finally starting to believe what we’ve been telling them all season: that they’re a very good team. I think, maybe, it might be sinking in 17 games later.”
Edmonds-Woodway junior Kyle Aure began the scoring barrage in the 27th minute. Aure sent a cross into the goal area that was grabbed by Garfield goalkeeper Sten Tolgu but his momentum carried him backwards toward the goal.
Tolgu tried to hold the ball out of the net but it crossed the line and the assistant referee on the sideline signaled that the Warriors had claimed the early lead.
Gilman, however, wanted more. He spoke to his team at halftime and urged them to continue to keep up the pressure and try to get a few more goals.
The Warriors obliged.
Eight minutes into the second half senior Ethan Hopkins collected the ball right in front of the goal and sent a rocket into the back of the net to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead.
“During halftime our coach said a 1-0 lead is actually not a lead at all. One goal can tie it up again,” Hopkins said. “That’s why we wanted to keep getting more goals.
“I would say the mentality that we had was a lot more aggressive after we scored each goal. We wanted more and more. That’s what led us to one (goal) after another.”
Jose Aleman-Cruz added a goal for Edmonds-Woodway (17-2-2 overall) in the 53rd minute and Armon Tenaw rounded out the scoring for the Warriors with a late goal in stoppage time.
“I like them all,” Gilman said. “You want the first one and then you go, ‘I’ve got to have another one. I can’t sit with one. I can’t sit with two.’ Even at three you figure, ‘OK, this team is good. They can still come back.’”
Edmonds-Woodway senior goalkeeper Grygoriy Lozynskyy kept Garfield (13-6-0) out of the goal to record the Warriors’ 11th shutout of the season.
The Bulldogs, who finished second in last year’s 3A state tournament, had won 10 of their previous 11 matches, including a 1-0 victory over Hazen in the first round of the state tournament on a goal in the 86th minute.
“We were a little concerned about them,” Gilman said. “They were No. 2 in the state last year and the scouting report I had on them was that they’re a very good team (in terms of) ball control.”
Gilman thought Edmonds-Woodway’s first round matchup, a 2-1 victory over Auburn Riverside on Tuesday, helped prepare the Warriors for their contest against Garfield.
“We figured, being the team that they are, they would be high-pressure in the second half,” Gilman said. “But against Auburn Riverside — those guys really (had) high pressure the whole game. So, we were ready for that because we had just done it for 80 minutes a couple of days ago.”
After accomplishing their season-long goal of getting to state and winning their first-round game, the Warriors had to make a new goal.
The win over Garfield means its time to, once again, get back to goal-setting.
“It’s exciting,” Gilman said. “They met their goals, set a new goal and now they’ve reached that. We’ll have to set new goals Monday.”
Gilman said he doesn’t know a lot about Mercer Island (17-1-1), but he plans to call a few coaches he knows and be ready to go by Monday’s practice. He expects the Islanders, who defeated Mountlake Terrace 3-0 in their state opener, to be a strong squad.
But Edmonds-Woodway is listening to its coach, and the Warriors know they’re a formidable foe as well.
“We haven’t done anything like that before. It feels great,” Hopkins said. “It feels really good to get a great win over a good team. I think we have the capability to do well. We just have to play how we did (Friday night).”
At Edmonds Stadium
Goals—Kyle Aure (E-W), Ethan Hopkins (E-W), Jose Aleman-Cruz (E-W), Armon Tenaw (E-W). Records—Garfield 13-6-0 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 17-2-2.
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