LAKEWOOD — Shorecrest romped past West Valley of Yakima 5-2 Saturday in the 3A boys soccer final putting an exclamation mark on the third title in school history.
After freshman forward Ian Adams received a pass from senior midfielder Jeremy Novack, he snuck through the defense and knocked in a right-footed shot in the sixth minute.
The rout was on at Harry E. Lang Stadium in Lakewood.
Shorecrest showed off the skills, depth and experience of a state champion as four different Scots scored goals, led by two from Novack.
“It’s perfect,” Novack said. “It’s what we dreamed about. It’s what I was dreaming about for four years.”
Shorecrest took a 4-0 halftime lead and cruised to its first title since 2005. It’s first came in 1976. The last two years, the Scots’ season ended in the state quarterfinals.
“Everybody played hard every game. We finished this year, I feel real good about that,” Novack said. “We’d been having trouble with that, we finally finished. This could’ve been a close game but it wasn’t.”
The eight seniors on the team entered Shorecrest the year after the last title.
“They got along so well, they play so well together,” Shorecrest coach Drew Thompson said. “They’re so supportive of the younger guys that are trying to move through. They learn how to play how we want them to play and they love each other. They became a family as the year went on.”
Shorecrest’s team chemistry improved throughout the year and the Scots won their last 19 games. Their only loss of the season came to rival Shorewood on March 25.
“It’s been a great team effort all year long. No doubt we have some tremendous individuals, Michael Harris is the one who stands out,” Thompson said. “(But) the guy who’s really kept our midfield together is No. 4 Garrett Musar. He’s been so valuable to this team. I don’t think people realize that with Michael around. Jeremy Novack is the third center midfielder. The three of them are great together, when one is gone, they’re not so good.”
Thompson, a security guard at Shorecrest, took over at Shorecrest from Teddy Mitalas four years ago after 14 years coaching at rival Shorewood.
“It doesn’t come often,” Thompson said of state titles. “We cherish these moments.”
Adams wanted to score in the title game, especially since his older brother Colin scored the game-winner in Shorecrest’s 1-0 title game win over Ferndale in 2005.
The second goal came when senior forward Jonathan Cho took a pass from midfielder Joe Shober, dribbled down the left wing and ripped a left-footed shot into the goal in the 12th minute to make it 2-0.
Cho left the semifinal win over Mercer Island with a neck injury but after being checked out by a doctor on Saturday morning he was cleared to play.
In the 21st minute, Novack collected a pass from senior forward Musie Ghebremichael, shot and then followed the ricocheted West Valley goalkeeper Phil Lopez to score.
Junior forward Eli Blauser made it 4-0 in the 40th minute off Shober’s second assist.
Novack added an insurance goal in the 45th minute off an assist from Adams to round out the scoring for Shorecrest.
West Valley’s Connor Nathe scored in the 54th minute and Salvador Pulido added a penalty kick in the 79th minute. The Rams finished the season 17-4.
Sophomore Glenn Paden, the Scots’ leading goal scorer, sat out the game after receiving two yellow cards in the semifinal. Despite his absence, scoring goals was not an issue.
Junior Eric Baker and senior Victor Casarez split time in goal for Shorecrest and gave up a goal apiece.
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