MOUNT VERNON — About 10 minutes into Tuesday’s 2A District 1 playoff game, Lakewood goalkeeper Peter Karrenberg shed his black goalkeeper’s jersey and exchanged it for a red, white and blue ensemble with a Superman logo.
It turned out to be an apt metaphor as the shaggy-haired senior was everywhere for the Cougars Tuesday night, particularly in a late-game push by Sultan during which he made several key saves.
“I usually fly around,” he quipped before adding that he had planned to put a Velcro cape on the back before Lakewood coach Vaughn Vandelac nixed the idea.
In the end, the Sultan Turks couldn’t muster enough kryptonite as Karrenberg made eight saves and Evander Ochoa scored the contest’s only goal eight minutes in as the Cougars defeated the Turks 1-0 for their third one-goal victory over Sultan in as many tries this season.
With the win, Lakewood qualifies for the 2A state tournament and advances to the 2A District 1 championship game Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at Mount Vernon High School against Cascade Conference foe Cedarcrest, who disposed of Sehome by the same 1-0 score earlier in the evening.
“We’re back in (the district championship) again and we definitely have a tough game ahead of us in Cedarcrest,” Vandelac said. “We’ll (get some) redemption hopefully.”
Sultan will play a loser-out contest at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday against the winner of Thursday’s matchup between Anacortes and Archbishop Murphy.
The Cougars opened the scoring in the eighth minute. Craig Hooks won the ball at midfield and played it through to forward Ochoa, who simply outraced the Sultan defense and deposited his shot into the right side of the net for the 1-0 lead and the game’s only score.
Sultan mounted a strong comeback effort in the waning moments of the second half — including several good looks from close range — but Karrenberg and his defenders were there to preserve the lead.
“They stepped up,” Vandelac said, referring to his defense. “We’ve been a little shaky a couple games at the end but we weathered the storm. (Sultan) got a few chances but we picked it up.”
“We love playing Lakewood — it’s always a great game,” said Sultan coach Mark Raney. “It always comes down to one finish or one missed finish and this game was no different.”
The Cougars will likely have to play their best game of the season to win the district title against undefeated Cedarcrest on Saturday. The Red Wolves beat Lakewood 1-0 and 7-0 during Cascade Conference play this season, but Vandelac is optimistic.
“The longer (we keep them out of the net), I think we stand a better chance,” he said. (Cedarcrest) plays better if they score a goal on you first. It’s tough to get back on them.
Sultan will qualify for state with a victory on Saturday and Raney said his team is still very much alive.
“Absolutely we’re in this thing and this is a team that’s been able to lose this year and come back,” he said. “Some teams have personalities where they lose and they can’t come back (but) this team (can).”
At Mt. Vernon H.S.
Goals—Lakewood: Ochoa. Assists—Lakewood: Hooks. Goalkeepers—Lakewood: Karrenberg. Sultan: Randall, Beckers. Records—Lakewood: 15-3. Sultan: 10-9.
Cedarcrest 1, Sehome 0: At Mount Vernon, R. J. Sorensen scored the contest’s lone goal in the 70th minute off an assist from Evan Fassler and Josh Long recorded the shutout in goal as the Red Wolves advanced to the 2A District 1 Tournament championship game Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at Mount Vernon High School.
At Mount Vernon H.S.
Goals—Cedarcrest: Sorensen. Assists—Cedarcrest: Fassler. Goalkeepers—Sehome: Barnett. Cedarcrest: Long. Records—Sehome not reported. Cedarcrest 18-0.
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