Murphy leads strong league delegation to state playoffs

Published 12:09 am Sunday, November 8, 2009

DUVALL — The Cascade Conference hopes to make its presence known at the upcoming 2A state tournament.

With three representatives, it will have a pretty good chance.

Three of District 1’s four 2A state berths were taken by members of the conference on Saturday at Cedarcrest H.S. Archbishop Murphy, Lakewood and Cedarcrest, which finished first, second and third, respectively, in the conference standings, all advanced.

Murphy defeated Sehome 2-1 in a shootout to win the district championship.

After a scoreless first half, Jessica Bertucci dribbled past two defenders and got a ball past Wildcats’ goalkeeper Alexa Hughes in the 60th minute. It was just the second goal allowed by Hughes all season.

Murphy countered quickly with a goal off a corner kick in the 65th minute. Erin Ryan kicked it in front of the goal where Maddy Huggins headed it in.

In the shootout, Hughes blocked two shots and Sehome missed once while Murphy made three penalty kicks, including the clincher by Huggins.

“I thought the teams played pretty evenly,” Murphy head coach Dick Henderson said. “It was probably a good game for both teams to play. A good test … So was the shootout. You can’t practice that kind of pressure.

“Our goal from the beginning has been to win the league, then get to districts. Then do well enough in districts to get to state … I’m confident we’ll play well.”

Lakewood advanced with a dramatic 1-0 victory over Squalicum in double overtime.

With less than a minute remaining in the second overtime, Jessica Pouley passed the ball up in front of the Squalicum goal. Storm goalkeeper Kara Merfeld jumped up and collided in the air with Lakewood’s Morgan Rettig. Freshman midfielder Abby Burke then redirected the loose ball that appeared to tip off a Squalicum defender’s hands into the goal.

“I’m so proud of the team,” Lakewood head coach Jeremiah Wohlgemuth said. “This is the first time in school history we have ever made it to state.”

The Cougars fought hard after an off-field incident that left seven girls — including five starters — dismissed from the team.

“I can’t talk enough about how proud I am as a coach of the 12 who dealt with adversity,” Wohlgemuth said. “They played their hearts out for two games.”

Cedarcrest defeated Granite Falls 3-2 to earn its state berth.

Sophomore Maggie Pleis began the scoring with a goal from outside the goalkeeper’s box in the ninth minute to put the Red Wolves up early. Clare O’Donnell added to the Cedarcrest lead with her first goal in the 32nd minute off a free kick by Ashton Griffen.

Granite Falls answered with a goal in the 36th minute by Alisha Amundson, who scored after Cedarcrest goalkeeper Kori Butterfield blocked one shot into the air. The ball landed right at Amundson’s feet and she put it in the back of the net to bring the Tigers to within one, 2-1.

In the second half, Cedarcrest struck first when Griffen threw a throw in to O’Donnell, who headed it into the lower left corner of the goal in the 60th minute.

The Tigers didn’t take long to respond, scoring less than a minute later when Cacia Stevens scored after Butterfield deflected another shot.

“The seniors this year have done a great job,” Cedarcrest head coach Denis Watts said. “No more so than out there tonight.”

Watts singled out the play of Griffen, O’Donnell and Butterfield in particular.