ARLINGTON — Shorecrest’s Kayla Holland punched in the winning goal in the final minute of regulation to give the Scots a thrilling 3-2 victory over previously unbeaten Arlington in Wesco 3A action on Thursday night.
Holland was one of 10 Shorecrest players waiting to receive Rachael Moulton’s corner kick as the seconds ticked away. She won the race for the ball and knocked it in for Shorecrest (3-0 league, 5-2 overall).
“At that point, we were going for the win,” Shorecrest head coach Mindy Dalziel said. “We didn’t want to go to extra time. Rachael served a great ball and it was in the mixer for a while before Kayla got to it.”
Shorecrest’s defense, anchored by goalkeeper Kate Wiper, kept the Arlington offense off the scoreboard for the entire first half — the only time during the Eagles’ six matches thus far in 2014 that they’ve been shut down for such a length of time.
“They made a point of getting four girls behind the ball and they have very disciplined center backs,” Arlington coach Nathan Davis said. “They did a nice job with their pressure and didn’t allow our girls to turn.”
Arlington (1-1 league, 5-1 overall) swung momentum back around to its side when Olivia Larson converted a penalty kick in the 52nd minute to get the Eagles on the scoreboard.
“We came out kind of flat in the second half, and the monsoon weather didn’t help,” Dalziel said. “Arlington kept pushing, and we started to panic.”
The Eagles tied the match in the 70th minute on a goal by Kirsten Phillips and Arlington goalkeeper Kat Sanchez kept her team in the match with a few big saves in the late going.
“She made five or six really good saves in a game where we had a lot of possession,” Davis said. “Shorecrest was playing counter-attacking soccer and playing really direct, so there were a lot of one-on-one saves and 50-50 balls for her to come and collect.”
Sophia Viviano and Meghan Wicken scored goals in the first half for Shorecrest to knock the Eagles back on their heels, and relied on experience gained from a 1-0 victory over Edmonds-Woodway on Tuesday to combat Arlington’s speed.
“We just played Edmonds-Woodway with Madison Schultz, and they play pretty similarly,” Dalziel said. “A win like this will give them confidence. We were up 2-0 and then gave up two goals, which was a gut-wrencher. But they buckled down, and to come out on top is a morale booster. To be 3-0 in league is a nice place to sit.”
At Arlington H.S.
Goals—Sophia Viviano (S), Meghan Wicken (S), Kayla Holland (S), Olivia Larson (A), Kirsten Phillips (A). Assists—Alexa Iacolucci (S), Emily Hicks (S), Rachael Moulton (S), Danielle Baker (A). Goalkeepers—Kate Wiper: Shorecrest. Home: Kat Sanchez. Records—Shorecrest 3-0-0 league, 5-2-0 overall. Arlington 1-1-0, 5-1-0.
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