BURIEN — Mountlake Terrace has braved the loss of six starters to injuries and ineligibility, has played two state playoff games with a goalkeeper who’d previously never manned the position and yet is marching on to the 2A state semifinals thanks to a 2-1 quarterfinal win over Highline on Friday at Highline Memorial Stadium.
“I’m so happy for these young men,” said Mountlake Terrace coach George Dremousis, who took over a Hawks program four years ago that was coming off a one-win season. “One of the long-term goals is we wanted to make them respectable again, and the freshmen have been with us a solid four years. To get to the state semifinals, I couldn’t be more happy for them.”
The win sets up Mountlake Terrace, which is in state for the first time since 1994, with a state semifinal match against East Valley (Yakima) at 8 p.m Friday at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner.
With Highline defenders committing generous resources to standout forward Bobby Stoyanov, Hawks Sam Polveroy and Milkias Yonatan came up clutch, each scoring a goal. Yonatan’s goal was his first of the season, and Dremousis said the junior midfielder rarely saw the field before Terrace began losing its starters.
Mountlake Terrace and Highline were tied at halftime, but early in the second half a corner kick from Stoyanov found Polveroy, who converted a header to give the Hawks a 1-0 advantage.
Minutes later Yonatan extended Mountlake Terrace’s lead to 2-0 off another assist from Stoyanov. Highline trimmed the lead to 2-1 with 15 minutes to play, but the Hawks defense held.
For the second straight state match, senior defender-turned-keeper Cody Nickell, who Terrace has nicknamed “Beast,” yielded only one goal. The accomplishment wasn’t lost on Dremousis or his staff.
“Cody is usually the right back, and it’s the same thing when he’s in the box, he’s fearless,” Dremousis said. “I told the guys after the game, right now you will be happy but 10 years from now you will look back and realize the full gravity of this.”
3A District 1 softball
Meadowdale 2, Snohomish 1
EVERETT — Lauren Dent shut down Snohomish’s high-powered offense and Savanna Spratt crushed a late go-ahead homer as the Meadowdale softball team claimed the district title in a battle of defending state champions Friday at Phil Johnson Fields.
The victory gave the Mavericks (18-4) their third district crown in the last five seasons and avenged their 16-1 five-inning loss to the Panthers on April 25. It also snapped Snohomish’s 21-game winning streak.
Spratt broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the seventh with a two-out homer over the left-field fence. Spratt also scored in the third inning on an RBI triple by University of Washington signee Emma Helm that gave the Mavericks a 1-0 lead.
After surrendering 19 hits to Snohomish (21-2) in last month’s mercy-rule loss, Dent limited the heavy-hitting Panthers to one run on five hits in Friday’s rematch. She recorded 10 strikeouts and two walks.
Both teams entered the title game after securing state berths with semifinal victories Thursday. Defending 3A champion Meadowdale will be making its sixth consecutive trip to state and defending 4A champion Snohomish will be making its fourth in a row.
Everett 9, Edmonds-Woodway 8
EVERETT — Despite sealing a third straight state berth earlier in the day, Everett decided to leave some drama for the back-end of its doubleheader.
Trailing by four runs in the seventh inning, the Seagulls rallied for five runs and earned a thrilling win over Edmonds-Woodway in a state-seeding game Friday at Phil Johnson Fields.
“The girls were more excited about that win than the one that put them into state,” Everett coach Mike Millar joked. “The message the last couple innings was, ‘This what we have to do to prepare for what we are going to face next week at state.’ They are a resilient, scrappy bunch and it showed.”
Trailing 8-4, Everett’s Brooklyn Johnson and Brooke-Lynn Wilmes came off the bench and helped spark a rally that gave the Seagulls a 9-8 lead. Wilmes, a freshman, picked the right time to record her first varsity hit.
Everett pitcher Megan Gordon, who relieved starter Andrea Hedington in the fourth inning, pitched a clean bottom of the seventh to help the Seagulls claim District 1’s No. 3 seed at the 3A state tournament.
Hope Fleischman went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI, and Johnson was 2-for-2.
Everett 7, Marysville Getchell 3
EVERETT — After having its lead cut to one run in the top of the fourth, Everett responded with a four-run bottom of the fourth inning, which helped the Seagulls clinch a state berth with a win over Marysville Getchell in a winner-to-state, loser-out game Friday at Phil Johnson Fields.
The win sends Everett to state for a third consecutive year.
Pitcher Andrea Hedington went the distance, striking out 10 while yielding only five hits. Rachel Christensen registered four of Everett’s eight hits, and Hope Fleischman had a double and drove in two runs.
“Being a young team, our goal was to put ourselves in a position to make it to state,” Everett coach Mike Millar said. “It’s a very scrappy team. We were trying to keep the game close, keep the pressure on and just rallied back and answered.”
Edmonds-Woodway 2, Marysville Pilchuck 1
EVERETT — The Warriors clinched a state tournament berth by ousting the Tomahawks in an elimination game on Friday.
Marysville Pilchuck ends its season with a record of 14-9.
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