EDMONDS — The Auburn Mountainview Lions may have been the team with the sharp passing, but it was the Mountlake Terrace Hawks who possessed the cutting edge.
Ally Villalobos Van Slooten scored the game’s only goal, and the Hawks defeated the Lions 1-0 in a first-round Class 3A girls soccer state tournament game Wednesday night at a frigid Edmonds District Stadium.
“It feels amazing,” Villalobos Van Slooten, a sophomore midfielder, said about Mountlake Terrace’s first win at state since 1990. “Honestly, I was expecting it to be a hard game, and it was as hard a game as I expected. But we put up a good fight and came out with a result.”
Auburn Mountainview had more of the ball, more shots on goal and more corner kicks, all because of its slick one- and two-touch passing moves through midfield.
But the thing the Lions were missing was that lethal center-forward presence who can make things happen in and around the penalty box. Mountlake Terrace had that player in junior Natalie Cardin, who was able to create dangerous chances from small openings, and it was Cardin who set up Villalobos Van Slooten for the 53rd-minute goal that decided the contest.
“Natalie is still getting healthy with her quad injury, but she showed some moments of brilliance out there tonight that made a difference,” Mountlake Terrace coach George Dremousis said. “(Morgan Damschen) was getting forward; (Daniela Cortezzo) is so versatile for us, we moved her around a lot to kind of attack when we needed and put her on back on defense when we needed; (midfielder Ava Hunt) we played at center back when we had to in the second half.
“It was a little rough in the first half, but we made some adjustments at halftime, talked to them about a little better spacing, and I think they responded in the second half,” Dremousis added. “It freed us up for some more shots in the first 20 minutes and I was really proud of the way they responded.”
Mountlake Terrace (12-3-4), the No. 14 seed, advanced to face third-seeded and defending state champion Lakeside in the round of 16 at 7 p.m. Friday at Interbay Stadium in Seattle.
“Just getting here was exciting, but then getting a win builds a little confidence in believing we can do it,” Dremousis said. “That was a good team tonight, Auburn Mountainview played some excellent soccer.”
Auburn Mountainview, the No. 19 seed, finished its season 10-7-1.
Through the first half and the early portion of the second half Auburn Mountainview controlled possession, but Mountlake Terrace created the slightly more dangerous scoring opportunities through Cardin. Then 13 minutes into the second half the Hawks found the breakthrough. Cardin received the ball on the right wing and drew the defense before laying it off for Villalobos Van Slooten at the edge of the penalty box. Villalobos Van Slooten took aim and curled a left-footed shot into the far corner past stranded Auburn Mountainview goalkeeper Zoey Heckinger to give Mountlake Terrace a 1-0 lead.
“I was looking around right before I got the ball and I knew I was alone,” Villalobos Van Slooten said. “I took it to the outside and I hit it, and at first I thought it wasn’t going to go in, it looked like it was going out. When it went in the net I was in complete shock, I didn’t think it was going to go in, I just kind of stood there.”
Auburn Mountainview continued with its passing game in an attempt to find the tying goal, but struggled to create anything that troubled Mountlake Terrace senior goalkeeper Sierra Sonko. Sonko was quick off her line to intercept any through balls that had a whiff of danger, and any shots the Lions managed to get on net resulted in one of Sonko’s eight routine saves.
The Lions finally created two nervous moments for the Hawks in the final three minutes. But the Mountlake Terrace defense blocked Lyla Merte’s inviting shot in the box, and Sonko dived to block a dangerous cross and grabbed the ball at a Lions player’s feet when the ball squirted free. Neither opportunity resulted in a shot on goal.
”We have as good a back four as anyone,” Dremousis said about countering the Lions’ passing game. “We haven’t given up more than a goal in a game all season long, so we have a great defense. It was just all about out our center backs seeing the field and making sure everyone was marked up because they ran through very well, they play that good one-two touch, and we did just enough on defense to weather the storm and got it done.”
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