Marysville-Pilchuck leaves Snohomish in the dark

SNOHOMISH — Displaying speed, control and creativity, Brady Ballew had a shining performance that meant lights out for the Snohomish Panthers.

Ballew, an always dangerous senior forward, scored two of his three goals in the first half and spearheaded the Marysville-Pilchuck High School boys soccer team’s 3-0 win over Snohomish on Tuesday. By winning the Western Conference North Division clash — which included a 14-minute delay late in the second half after the lights at Veterans Memorial Stadium went out — the Seattle University-bound Ballew and his teammates inched closer to clinching a playoff berth with just a few league games remaining.

This was the latest of numerous varsity hat tricks (three goals in one game) for Ballew, who has 17 goals this spring. Because of his longtime familiarity with Snohomish players and the importance of the game, this hat trick was extra special for Ballew.

“I think this one tops all of them: Senior year at Snohomish,” said Ballew, who helped spoil the final home game for the Panthers’ eight seniors.

Goalkeeper Kyle Bluhm made at least eight saves and earned the shutout for M-P, which improved to 9-3-1 (28 points). The Tomahawks have three North games to go and can clinch a Class 4A District 1 tournament berth on Friday with either a win versus Monroe or an Arlington (7-6, 21 points) loss.

Ballew scored twice in a 12-minute span in the first 18 minutes of the game. He tallied his third goal on a hard, long-range shot with 1 minute to go in the second half.

By not forcing things, Ballew is actually becoming more difficult to stop.

“What’s really great about Brady,” M-P coach Geoff Kittle said, “is that he’s really working with the rest of the guys and it’s relieving a lot of pressure off of him and it’s creating more opportunities for him.”

M-P is missing two outstanding players, senior forward John Crenshaw and senior midfielder Juan Guadarrama, because of injuries. But Ballew and his healthy teammates are picking up the slack.

“The forwards are starting to play well,” Kittle said. “We’re finding a combination of forwards that can work with Brady, which I think really helps because for awhile there he was taking everything on himself.”

A huge game looms on Monday, when M-P will play host to Lake Stevens. The division-leading Vikings (10-2-1, 31 points) clinched a 4A district tournament berth by beating Stanwood (7-5-2, 23 points) 1-0 on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Snohomish (9-4-1, 28 points) is close to clinching a 4A district berth. But the Panthers quickly fell behind 2-0 on Tuesday and, despite playing better in the second half, failed to convert even one of its excellent scoring chances.

“How many times did we get inside the box and not score a goal?” said Snohomish coach Dan Pingrey, noting that finishing on offense has been a problem all season. “Tons of opportunities and we’re not putting them in.”

M-P swept its two-game North series with Snohomish. In the teams’ previous clash this season, M-P prevailed 1-0 in Marysville as Crenshaw scored the lone goal.

In the rematch, M-P took a 2-0 lead to the intermission. Ballew scored both goals for the Tomahawks and nearly scored a third goal with about 15 minutes before halftime.

He scored in the sixth minute, attacking the middle and kicking a short-range shot past Snohomish’s keeper toward the right post. About 12 minutes later Ballew pounced on a rebound and increased M-P’s lead. His teammate, senior forward Anival Moreno, drilled a shot from the left side the smacked the crossbar and caromed in front of the goal mouth to Ballew, who calmly knocked it in.

One of Snohomish’s best chances came late in the first half. With about 5 minutes to go, Brendon Gundry smashed a 25-yard free kick that soared barely above the crossbar.

Snohomish’s goalkeepers were senior Cody Melander and freshman Collin Shelton, who made three saves in the second half.

Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.