STANWOOD — Meadowdale built a three-goal lead in the first 23 minutes and held off Stanwood’s second-half charge to shock the Spartans, 3-2 in the first round of the 3A District 1 Tournament on Saturday.
“I think the boys were fairly confident going in,” said Mavericks head coach Wade Foley. “I just don’t think we had any apprehension. We didn’t have anything to lose.”
Austin Panek, Colton Davis and Taylor Linton each scored as the Mavericks jumped on the Wesco 3A North champions and top-seeded Mavericks early.
Panek headed in Linton’s long throw-in for the opening score and Davis followed with another goal to give the Mavericks a quick 2-0 lead just 15 minutes in.
About eight minutes later, Linton took advantage of windy conditions and scored on a long free kick from over 50 yards.
“(Linton) took the kick just inside our half and floated it up into the wind,” said Foley. “It caught the goalkeeper offguard. The wind played a big factor. It was about a 20-yard swing, so if you were going into the wind, you were getting the ball dropped into your half. We just took advantage of it a little better than they did when we had it.”
In the second half, the wind favored the Spartans and Stanwood rallied with goals in the 49th and 70th to cut the deficit to one, but the Mavericks held on for the upset win.
Meadowdale will play Glacier Peak in a winner-to-state match at Shoreline Stadium on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Spartans will host Marysville Getchell in a loser out game, also on Tuesday.
At Stanwood H.S.
Goals—Austin Panek (M), Colton Davis (M), Taylor Linton (M), Stanwood goals not reported. Assists—Linton. Goalkeepers—Meadowdale: Evan Lee. Stanwood: not reported. Records—Meadowdale 5-11-1 overall. Stanwood 11-4-2.
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