EVERETT — Dylan Gaddy was having a miserable night.
The Kamiak high school striker just couldn’t seem to be able to find the finish when given the chance. And adding injury to insult, he spent much of Monday night’s game woozy after taking an elbow to the head, a knock that left the senior clutching a bag of ice to his head afterward.
However, all of Gaddy’s misery disappeared in a flash, and he and the Knights survived to play on.
Gaddy converted a penalty kick in the 53rd minute for the game’s only goal, and the Knights held on to defeat the Monroe Bearcats 1-0 in a class 4A District 1 boys soccer playoff elimination game at Goddard Stadium.
“For us nine seniors this means a lot,” Gaddy said. “This was our first playoff win ever, so it’s big to get that out of the way. We missed a few opportunities, but we got the PK and we gutted it out.”
Kamiak, the No. 3 seed from the Wesco South, doesn’t get much time to dwell upon its victory. The Knights (8-5-4) face Wesco North No. 2 Marysville-Pilchuck tonight in another loser-out game. The game takes place at 7 p.m. at Lake Stevens High School.
“It’s hard, but you have to dig it out,” Kamiak coach Garfield Scott said about playing games on back-to-back nights. “This is the playoffs, you can’t say, ‘Well I’m tired, I don’t want to go any more.’ At this point of the season if you lose you’re done, and the lads are well aware of that, so I think they’re going to come ready to play (tonight).”
Monroe, the Wesco North No. 4, finished its season 8-7-2.
Monday’s game was evenly matched from a possession standpoint, but Kamiak had the better scoring chances. However, the Knights weren’t able to convert.
The best of those chances fell to Gaddy. In the first half he had a pair of free shots on goal from in close, only to see his shots smothered by Monroe goalkeeper Andrew Chavez at point blank both times.
But then, 13 minutes into the second half, Gaddy was given the opportunity to redeem himself. On a quick counterattack Gaddy slipped behind the Bearcats defense and raced away toward the goal. The Monroe defenders tried desperately to catch up, and a sliding tackle sent Gaddy flying just as he reached the penalty box. The referee pointed at the penalty spot to indicate a penalty kick.
“I knew I was just as fast as most of the guys on their team out here, and I beat the defender once on the other end and missed the shot,” Gaddy said. “So I just made my mind set that if I got the ball I’d take it at him and try to make something happen. Luckily I got the ball in front and he got my leg.”
Gaddy stepped up to take the kick himself and powered a shot past a diving Chavez to break the scoreless deadlock.
“As a player, when you miss those chances sometimes it can get in your head,” Scott said of Gaddy. “But he kept his composure. In a big match like this he stepped up to take the penalty and that was big of him.”
Monroe ramped up the pressure after falling behind, with Mike Kehoe putting a free header wide from a corner kick. Then the final minutes seemed to last an eternity as the Bearcats continued to put cross after throw-in after corner kick into the Kamiak penalty area. But Kehoe was unable to connect solidly with another free header, Kamiak goalkeeper Skylar Waggoner made a diving stop to deny Danny Barajas on a rebound, and the Knights held out for victory.
The defeat was difficult for Monroe coach Ryan Schaeffer to accept, as he believed the penalty kick should never have been awarded.
“It was a great match,” Schaeffer said. “Kamiak’s speed and crossing: wonderful. Their game plan: beautiful. We held our own and neither team won on the field because the officials took it away. I hate to see a district game won by a penalty kick, especially when the player was offsides to begin with and they didn’t make the proper call. Yes, we did foul the guy. Yes, it was a penalty kick. Fine. But it never should have got that far, and I wish this game had been won on the field, not by the officials.”
At Goddard Stadium
Goals—Kamiak: Gaddy. Goalkeepers—Monroe: Chavez. Kamiak: Waggoner. Records—Kamiak 8-5-4. Monroe 8-7-2.
Cascade 3, Edmonds-Woodway 2: At Everett, Cascade goalkeeper Michael Janner dislocated a finger a couple weeks ago, becoming the fifth Cascade player on the roster held from play this season. Corey Evans stepped up in his absence and got the job done securing the 4A District 1 playoff victory for the Bruins.
“He played very well,” Cascade coach Dagi Kesim said.
Reid Jones put Cascade out front early, scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes. Jeff Gosslee’s unassisted goal for Cascade proved to be the difference in the game.
Cascade asdvanced to another loser-out game at 7 p.m. today vs. Jackson at Everett Memorial Stadium.
At Everett Memorial Stadium
Goals—E-W: not reported. Cascade: Jones 2, Gosslee. Assists—E-W: not reported. Cascade: DeOliveira. Goalkeepers—E-W: Kratzke. Cascade: Evans. Records—E-W 5-9-3 overall. Cascade 13-4-0.
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