EVERETT — At some point, it has to get tougher for the Archbishop Murphy girls soccer team. Right?
Of course, that’s what people figured all season. After losing six players to NCAA Division I schools after last year’s Class 2A state championship, it was assumed that it would be a much harder road to a title for Murphy this season.
But after rolling through their first two state playoff games — including Saturday’s 5-2 quarterfinal victory over Interlake at Goddard Stadium — the Wildcats appear poised to win their third state title in five years.
Archbishop Murphy’s relentless attack wore down the overmatched Saints and the Wildcats broke things open with three goals in a 4½ minute span of the second half to roll into the state semifinals. Murphy (18-2) will meet Sehome at 8 p.m. Friday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup for the right to move into the state championship game Saturday.
“We came into the playoffs strong but we definitely expect stronger competition as we go along,” said senior Caroline Brawner, who had two goals and an assist in a brilliant all-around performance for the Colgate University signee. “We’re getting good results because we’ve been playing hard because we know we can’t just show up and win. We need to work for it.”
Interlake (10-7-2), which was 5-6 on Oct. 12 before going 5-0-2 to reach the state quarterfinals, held on for as long as it could against a Murphy team that seemed to be first to every ball and hit the post or crossbar approximately 2,000 times, give or take a couple.
“Our consistent pressure allows us to get in a flow and makes it tough on other teams,” Murphy coach Eddie Fernandez said. “Interlake defended well in the first half and we got a little frustrated when we kept hitting the post. But we just kept going at them and I think they did wear down toward the end.”
Murphy out-shot Interlake 25-8, including 17-3 in the second half, yet the Saints stayed close, making it 2-1 eight minutes into the second half on a free kick goal by Danielle Brandli. At that point, Murphy went into a frenzied hyperdrive, burying the overmatched Interlake defense under an avalanche of offense. And while Saints keeper Brenda Agus played an outstanding match — making eight saves — there’s only so many times you can turn away shots.
With 21½ minutes to go, Brawner sent a back-heel pass through to a running Kelly Gould, who finished into the right side of the net for a 3-1 lead. A minute later, freshman Calisse Crisler hit the crossbar and Gould followed it up for her second goal. Three minutes after that, Crisler centered to a wide open Brawner, who scored her second goal and all of a sudden it was 5-1.
“We knew in the first half we weren’t playing to our potential,” Gould said. “In the second half we started putting more pressure on them and eventually things started going for us.”
“We were getting pressure on them, and we felt like if we kept attacking we’d eventually get some goals,” Brawner said. “We have so many people who can attack that it’s hard to stop us when we get going.”
While Murphy controlled play from the start, it wasn’t completely one-sided and the Wildcats didn’t get a lead until there was 12 minutes to go before halftime, when Shelby Koch lofted a ball into the box and Brawner one-touched it into the right side of the net for a 1-0 lead. Six minutes into the second half, Tasha Pabisz crossed to Koch at the far post for a 2-0 lead.
“The girls executed well and created a lot of chances and so far we’ve put ourselves in position to do what we’ve set out to do,” Fernandez said. “And now we’ll try to take the next step.”
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