Herald Staff
VANCOUVER, Washington – Ridgefield used a solid defense, including five saves by goalie Sara Kearsley, to earn a 2-0 girls soccer playoff win over South Whidbey on Monday night at McKenzie Stadium.
“The two early goals (helped a lot),” said Ridgefield coach Sunny Dulai. “(South Whidbey) had three or four good chances and we had a few, but other than that, there weren’t really a lot of chances in the game.”
Laura Smith scored the first goal at the 10-minute mark, which was set up by a pass that deflected off a South Whidbey defender down the middle of the field.
“(South Whidbey) pressured us in the second half,” Dulai said. “There wasn’t a lot of possession in the game. Most of the game was played in the middle so it was more or less a battle.”
After that, the ball moved back and forth until 10 minutes remained in the first half, when Ridgefield’s Kelly Heald found a seam up the middle of the field. Upon receiving a pass on the breakaway, she was tackled by a South Whidbey defender, which gave Ridgefield a penalty shot.
Heald’s kick angled to the left side and got past goalie Falcons Kellie Horn, who had three saves on the night.
Down 2-0, the Falcons kept battling and almost got on the board when Jaci Gutzmer kicked a high shot, but Spudders goalie Kearsley deflected the kick with her hands, which bounced off the top crossbar and then to the ground, where it was covered by Kearsley.
Ridgefield’s defense controlled the game after that, only allowing scoring attempts from long distance.
The loss ended South Whidbey’s season with an 11-9 record. It was a season in which the Falcons handed North Cascade Conference rival Meridian, 17-1, its lone regular-season loss. And for the Falcons’ gutsy 2-0 win over Blaine, which gave them third place in league and a playoff berth behind first and second-place finishers Meridian and Sultan.
Ridgefield plays the winner of the Sultan-Klahowya game Saturday, also at McKenzie Stadium. The Sultan-Klahowya game is at 7 tonight at Edmonds Stadium.
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