SHORELINE — A strong northerly wind blew threw Shoreline stadium Friday night. It was bitter cold and wet but the Jackson girls soccer team didn’t seem to notice as they grouped together at midfield, smiles beaming across their faces.
The strength of that wind coupled with the experience of a senior-laden roster gave the Timberwolves all they needed to dispatch Monroe 1-0 and claim the 4A District 1 championship.
“We won the toss and we went against the wind in the first half,” Jackson coach Mike Bartley said, “hoping we could withstand it and use it in the second.”
The Timberwolves (17-0-1) managed a goal in the first half thanks to senior captain Brianna Ellis, who connected in the 21st minute. The wind strengthened at halftime and almost acted as another Jackson defender on an already stout defense as the Bearcats (11-5-2) struggled to find an equalizer.
Despite some missed scoring chances, the Bearcats held their heads high after the game. The loss knocked them down to the second seed to state but not out.
“I don’t think we played our best game,” Monroe coach Kathleen Potthast said. “We had our opportunities early on and if we get one first then it’s a different game.”
Jackson looked calm and at ease from the start — a sign of a team returning every player but one from the 2008 team that made the state semifinals. When she scored, Ellis took the ball up the left side and then made a couple Bearcats miss on the way to a nifty left-foot shot outside the reach of Monroe goalie Dani Philippart.
“I’m really excited because last game was not a good game for me,” Ellis said between bites of a postgame snack of gummi bears.
The Timberwolves, who hadn’t played Monroe yet this year, were impressed with the Bearcats despite a relatively comfortable win.
“They did a good job of shutting down our offense,” Bartley said.
KC Wilson anchored the Jackson defense between the nets and recorded the shutout.
Unlike Jackson, which earned the chance to host a first-round state playoff game, Monroe will have to travel. But Friday’s showing against the likely state favorite may give the team a bit of momentum going into the next level.
“There’s a lot of confidence,” Potthast said. “If we get another chance to play them down the line, we’ll be better prepared for it.
Knights fight way to state
Lighting and thunder delayed the start of the girls 4A District 1 third-place game and both Kamiak and Edmonds-Woodway waited in the looker room for the storm to pass.
For Kamiak it was not a time of tension, however. The Knights stayed loose thanks to Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears.
“We were getting pumped,” senior Hillary Hermes said. “We had music going.”
When the fireworks in the sky cleared, Hermes and the Knights emerged from the locker room and stepped up with a 1-0 triumph over Edmonds-Woodway.
The win sends Kamiak (12-5-2) to state for the second-straight year and Edmonds-Woodway (11-5-3) shaking its head with a season-ending loss.
For the Knights, who were a shootout goal from qualifying for state Monday and played three games this week, the game was a relief.
“That was not part of the plan,” Kamiak coach Beth Stewart said of the teams longer than expected journey to state. “It’s a nice ending. Fighting through the loser’s bracket is tough.”
All it took was a new corner-kick play installed this week in practice and unveiled for the first time in the first half.
In the 33rd minute Shelby Knowles set up from the right corner and blasted a laser toward the goalie box. Knowles’ kick rocketed directly at the head of Hermes who barely had to move to score the goal on a powerful header.
“It was a perfect corner kick by Shelby,” Hermes said.
Warriors’ coach Bill LeCompte was not happy that one play ended his team’s season particularly that one.
“We didn’t cover it the way we normally cover it,” LeCompte said.
Despite the one defensive lapse, the Warriors hung tough and threw a late second-half flurry at Kamiak. With 2:30 to go in the game a Warrior shot in the goalie box got by Kamiak keeper Emma Makela and the Edmonds’ sideline erupted.
The referred signaled immediately that the ball had been out of bounds just prior to the shot and awarded the Warriors a corner rather than a goal. Lauren Previs missed a header on the ensuing well-placed corner kick and the Knights escaped the threat.
“My heart was beating pretty quick,” Stewart said about the Warriors almost goal. “Definitely nerve wracking.”
Makela and Tana Foster combined on the shutout. Foster, injured earlier in the week played only the first half until a deep thigh bruise sent her to the bench.
A year ago Kamiak travelled east of the mountains and lost to Mead in the first round of the state playoffs, but the team has bigger plans this time.
“Our plan is to get further than last year,” Hermes said. “We’ve been working really hard.”
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