Meadowdale ousted from state playoffs

By BRAD VICTOR

Herald Writer

EDMONDS – The Meadowdale Mavericks girls soccer team had their season come to an end on Tuesday night, at Edmonds Stadium by virtue of a 2-0 loss to Skyline in the first round of the Class 3A state tournament.

The first half was a defensive struggle as both teams had a hard time moving the ball and played their way to 0-0 tie. The two teams combined for only five shots on goal. Both goalies, Allie Wirtala of Meadowdale and Nicole Romano of Skyline, played very well and kept their teams in the game with their solid play.

“This season has been great and if the girls can play like they did tonight the sky is the limit,” said Skyline coach Matthew Olson.

With virtually the whole game being on Meadowdale’s side of the field, the Mavericks exerted all of their energy defending their own goal and its relentless pressure paid dividends for Skyline in the end.

Meadowdale’s Kristina Hughes and Joscelyn Riach both made hustle play after hustle play to deny Skyline, but finally in the 50th minute Maggie MacCool scored on a header to give her team a 1-0 lead, which turned out to be more than enough for the triumph.

“We played hard and got beat by a very good team I’m proud of the season the girls had,” Meadowdale coach Michael Bartley said.

Meadowdale seemed to have regrouped and was poised to score a goal of its own, but the Mavericks simply ran out of steam. Skyline got a break when midfielder Karly Larson of the Mavericks fell down. That gave Skyline’s Jacquelynn Reasy a wide-open look at the goal and she scored to put the game on ice.

Skyline played with great energy the entire game which proved to be the difference in the game. In last 18 minutes the Mavericks (12-5-3) tried to play catch up but ran out of gas.

Meadowdale has now lost three straight years in the first round of the state tournament, but the Mavericks do bring back the majority of its team for next year, so the future looks bright.