SNOHOMISH — Soccer isn’t a game for control freaks. It requires improvisation.
Thanks to some effective ad-libbing by junior forward Ashley Tombelaine and another strong defensive performance, the Snohomish High School girls soccer team clinched a league title and its fourth consecutive Class 4A state tournament berth Tuesday. Tombelaine had a goal and an assist for Snohomish, which defeated the Everett Seagulls 3-1 in a Western Conference North Division game at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Snohomish earned its first outright North championship since 2002 and a trip to state, even though the Panthers (12-0-1) still have three regular season games to play.
Snohomish held second-place Everett (10-4) scoreless until the final minute, when Annie Sittauer notched the Seagulls’ only goal.
“We just wanted to stay really solid defensively, and we did for the most part,” Tombelaine said. “That was one of our main goals. And we also wanted to keep possession and move the ball around and make ‘em work.”
Snohomish accomplished that as well.
The only goal of the first half came in the 27th minute. After Snohomish generated seven shots without scoring, Tombelaine broke through for the Panthers with a quick one-on-one move that stunned Everett’s defense and energized the home crowd.
Tombelaine took the ball up the left side, dribbled toward the middle of the field and quickly spun back to the left. She created enough space to wind up her left leg and blast a hard shot that stayed inside the right post and gave Snohomish a 1-0 lead. It was Tombelaine’s team-best eighth goal this season.
“I kind of like try to do one thing (and) if it’s not working improvise and see what I can get out of it,” Tombelaine said.
Snohomish coach Dan Pingrey said he missed Tombelaine’s goal because he happened to glance away from the field at what turned out to be an inopportune moment. But he saw his Panthers score two more goals in the second half and beat Everett, a 3A squad, for the second time this season.
“This is absolutely huge,” Pingrey said of the victory, which allowed Snohomish to secure a state berth early instead of having to fight for one in the single-elimination district playoffs for a spot.
Goalkeeper Madison Goverde made five second-half saves for Snohomish. Brooke Gilbert and Sarah Desautels scored the Panthers’ other goals.
Everett is guaranteed a berth in the 3A district tourney and still has a chance to be the No. 1 Wesco seed. Its final two regular season games are against Stanwood and Lake Stevens.
Everett easily could have been behind by several goals, instead of one, by the intermission. Snohomish tallied 13 shots, including several near-misses, while the Seagulls didn’t produce any shots or corner kicks. Facing constant pressure in the first 40 minutes, Everett goalkeeper Emily Nesting made three routine saves to keep her team close.
Showing much more energy than it had earlier in the game, Everett came out strong in the second half and fired three shots — its first three of the night — in a span of 3:10. But Snohomish responded and made it 2-0 in the seventh minute of the half when Tombelaine passed back to Gilbert on a smooth give-and-go attack.
“In about the first five or 10 minutes of the second half we actually came out and … worked hard,” Everett coach Kosta Pitharoulis said. “Half an inch this way or half an inch that way (on several Seagulls shots), we tie it up and then all the sudden it’s a battle.”
“But instead,” he added, “those don’t go in and your confidence kind of goes down.”
Simultaneously, Snohomish’s self-belief swelled. The unbeaten Panthers are realizing their potential.
Said Pingrey, “It was fun from day one watching this team and saying, ‘You know what, I think all of the pieces are here.’”
At Veterans Memorial Stadium
Goals—Everett: Sittauer. Snohomish: Tombelaine, Gilbert, Desautels. Assists—Everett: Bell. Snohomish: Tombelaine. Goalkeepers—Everett: Nesting. Snohomish: Goverde. Records—Everett 10-4 in division and overall. Snohomish 12-0-1, 12-0-1.
Contact Herald Writer Mike Cane at mcane@heraldnet.com. For more high school sports news, check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.
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