LAKE STEVENS — The rain poured so hard at Lake Stevens High School during the District 1/2 4A Girls Soccer Loser-out Consolation match on Wednesday, it felt more like a swim meet than a soccer game.
Amid the slick conditions, Lake Stevens and Jackson each scored within the first 10 minutes of the game, and entering the second half, both sides fought for an edge, fighting to add one more game to their season. A couple early chances after the break were cleared away by the time Lake Stevens senior Keira Isabelle Tupua dribbled up the left side line and drew a corner kick after her cross was defended out of the back line.
As Tupua set up the kick, a couple of her teammates stood right on the goal line on either side of Jackson goalkeeper Sophia Harper, flooding the inside of the six-yard box with purple. Tupua whipped the ball across, and while Harper managed to get her hands on the ball, the Lake Stevens players collapsed into the play, and senior Cora Jones managed to knock the ball in to make it 2-1 in the 48th minute.
“I saw the ball pop up in front of me, and I just went,” Jones said. “I had a hopeful drive with the knee, and it went in.”
The Vikings (15-1-1) managed to hang on to that lead to secure a 2-1 win, rebounding from their first loss of the season in the district quarterfinals to keep their season alive while eliminating the Timberwolves (10-7-1).
After rolling into the tournament as an undefeated No. 2 seed, Lake Stevens fell 2-0 on Saturday to No. 7 seed Skyline, the same team that defeated them in last year’s district semifinals. The Vikings had not lost a game since that exact matchup last season, but history repeated itself and put their season in jeopardy.
“I felt like that was the worst time to play our worst game,” Lake Stevens coach Sam Ford said about Saturday’s loss. “Skyline was actually the last team I probably wanted to see that early. … So they came in, our girls felt we were ready, but for whatever reason — and I think it’s Skyline coming hard at us and us maybe not being focused — but we had a bad game, and so we had to ask some hard questions of ourselves.”
In Ford’s eyes, the Timberwolves were another tough opponent Lake Stevens did not want to face, despite winning both regular-season matchups this season. The Vikings overcame a 1-0 deficit in their most recent meeting on Oct. 7 to win 3-1, and things played out in a similar fashion on Wednesday.
Jackson established possession right away, and worked a clean passing sequence up the right side of the field to junior Stella Shaw, who pushed through contact inside the 18-yard box to rip a shot through in the sixth minute to take a 1-0 lead.
It didn’t take long for Lake Stevens to respond. Humbled by Skyline just days prior, the Vikings used it as a rallying point to bring the group closer together. So when junior Noelani Tupua stepped up to take a free kick just beyond the right side of the 18-yard box in the ninth minute, she made no mistake with it. It took all of three minutes to bring the game to a 1-1 tie.
“I think it was good. Going into the (second) half, we didn’t have to play down,” Noelani Tupua said. “It didn’t kill our momentum early.”
One of the big adjustments Ford had to make entering Wednesday’s match was the utilization of the Tupua sisters, who opponents tend to game plan around. A sequence in the 27th minute marked a clear example why that is.
Noelani Tupua created several chances throughout the remainder of the first half, utilizing stellar footwork and physicality to dissect the Timberwolves defenders. She took the ball from midfield all the way to the edge of the six-yard box, evading tackles and escaping from tight areas into space after nearly half the Jackson defenders to set up a shot in front, but Harper managed to save the shot out of bounds to keep things level. Practically every push upfield came off the backs — or feet, rather — of either Noelani or Keira Isabelle.
“They’re both very special players. Certainly the best players I’ve coached, and some of the best players to come out of Lake Stevens soccer, for sure,” Ford said. “They’re like thoroughbreds that you’re trying to rein in, and oftentimes they just do things that are pretty magical and unpredictable.”
The Vikings started to take over control of possession down the back stretch of the first half, but Jackson had a couple chances off set pieces that the Lake Stevens back line and goalkeeper Tessa Anastasi helped turn away.
Once Jones scored the go-ahead strike early in the second half, the Vikings used that energy to surge forward before the Timberwolves recovered to push back.
“Connecting passes, and being able to circulate the ball out and just execute,” Jones said. “Just trying to take advantage of those opportunities is what allowed us to win.”
The two sides spent much of the second half battling along the sideline, trying to win back possession via throw-ins, but Jackson ultimately pushed through for several chances in the final 10 minutes looking for the tying goal. A free kick in the 71st minute went over the crossbar, and the Vikings cleared out a cross from senior Emma Blakely just a few minutes later.
Jackson received a corner kick in the 78th minute, presenting its final quality chance, but once again the Lake Stevens back line cleared the ball out before Anastasi scooped up a long-range rebound shot to all but seal the result.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times,” Ford said. “That’s always hard. So they came at us hard, and I feel like we gutted it out. It was ugly at times, playing in this kind of weather is ugly, but our girls kind of showed the grit that I think is at the heart of our team.”
The Vikings earned one last chance to extend their season and qualify for the state tournament with a matchup at home against Bothell on Saturday. Despite bouncing back from their early exit in the district tournament winner’s bracket, the team does not want to lose its intensity.
“(We will) use this as more fuel, I guess, for the fire,” Noelani Tupua said. “You don’t want it to burn out, so just keep it going. We want it, but it’s easy to say and hard to do.”
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