DUVALL – The Cedarcrest Red Wolves boys soccer team has officially gone from part of the also-rans to league championship contender.
Cedarcrest (11-2 in league) proved to be the more aggressive team Thursday night, claiming a 3-0 conference victory over streaking second-place Sultan (9-3) at Cedarcrest High School to lock down a 2A District 1 playoff berth.
“After last season we didn’t finish real well,” Cedarcrest coach Zack Pittis said of a 3-7 league record last season. “Every team starts out to win it, but realistically we wanted to make the playoffs and take it from there. They deserve it, they have been working hard all season and it feels good.”
Sultan, having won nine straight games on grass, looked to be a step off on the field turf at Cedarcrest Stadium. And Cedarcrest, which won at least a tie for the Cascade Conference crown with Thursday’s victory, took advantage, scoring two goals in the first half to put Sultan in an early deficit.
“We definitely play better at home when we get on the field turf as opposed to grass ‘cause we are so much faster out there,” Pittis said. “They knew what they had to do and they came out and played well and got it done.”
RJ Sorenson found the back of the net after a scramble in front of the net from a corner kick for Cedarcrest’s first goal. Sorenson’s first shot was blocked by a Sultan defender off the goal line, but Cedarcrest’s Zach Brown followed with a shot that bounced back to Sorenson, who put it into the corner of the net in the 21st minute.
Sorenson scored again seven minutes later off of another scramble in front of the net from a corner kick to give Cedarcrest a 2-0 lead at the half.
“We’ve been working really hard on set pieces and restarts,” Pittis said. “We have scored a lot of goals off them this year and those are one of the things we focus on in the start of the season and it has paid off.”
Evan Fassler added his 13th goal of the season in the 50th minute on a floating right footed chip over the Sultan keeper.
“That third goal Fassler hit that was the most gorgeous goal of the year,” Sultan coach Dr. Mark Raney said.
“He is always making plays and hustling hard and working hard,” Senior captain Arryan Ghazanfarpour said of Fassler. “He is a great team player.”
Cedarcrest’s defense, led by Ghazanfarpour and goalkeeper Josh Long, limited Sultan’s chances.
“As one of my two seniors, he’s solid, Pittis said of Ghazanfarpour. “He doesn’t try to do anything spectacular but just seems to win balls in the middle of the field.”
Long posted his sixth shutout of the season with nine saves for the Red Wolves
“He was really outstanding tonight and made some great saves for us,” Pittis said.
Cedarcrest continues to build both of its soccer programs, with both the girls and boys teams having captured conference championships this season.
The girls soccer program went on to finish second in the state tournament with a 22-1 overall record.
“They are worried now that we are going to win state before they do,” Pittis said.
Sultan will look to rebound, playing two more league games and then will start district playoff games on turf to get the feel of the pace before a possible rematch with Cedarcrest.
“Our first game on turf is a little bit of adjustment. This is definitely a home-field advantage for them,” Raney said. “When we get them later on down the road, we believe we’ll have played a few games on turf by then and it will be a different game.”
At Cedarcrest H.S.
Goals-Cedarcrest: Sorenson 2, Fassler. Assists-Cedarcrest: Brown, K. Ghazanfarpour. Goalkeepers-Sultan: I. Gonzalez, Randall. Cedarcrest: Long. Records-Sultan 9-3 in league, 10-4 overall. Cedarcrest 11-2, 13-2.
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