LAKE STEVENS — Lake Stevens girls soccer knew what they would be going up against when they hosted Kamiak on Tuesday.
The two sides were each 4-0-0 in league play so far this season, and had tied 1-1 in one of their matchups last year. Lake Stevens coach Sam Ford called it “the biggest challenge of the season.”
But in just the second minute, seniors Shelby Clifton and Keira Isabelle Tupua made it look easy.
Tupua dribbled the ball into the right corner before curling a cross right to Clifton, who roofed a shot to the top of the net while standing at the back post.
“I definitely just saw the space open, and I noticed that the last defender was just in line with the goalie,” Clifton said. “(I) saw the whole back post open, and I was like, ‘Ope, just pop it right in.’”
Clifton would score two more times in the first 36 minutes to secure a hat trick, and Tupua punched in a penalty kick in the final two minutes to secure a decisive 4-0 victory for the Vikings (6-0-1, 5-0-0) against the Knights (6-2-0, 4-1-0). Lake Stevens goalie Tessa Anastasi had the shutout.
“The first five minutes of a game can really dictate a lot,” Ford said. “They came out really hungry, ready to play, and I think wanting to make a statement, and they did.”
The Vikings never let their foot off the gas after taking the early lead, and Clifton struck again in the 11th minute, slipping behind the Kamiak back line to create a finish off a longer free kick.
Clifton suspected the defenders paused because they anticipated her to be offsides, but she timed it well enough and took advantage.
“I feel like Shelby’s the type of player where she just sees the ball and she tracks it,” Anastasi said.
Protecting a two-goal lead, the Vikings managed to control most of the possession through the rest of the half, with junior Ava Pearson sending a long shot to net in the 18th minute. Whenever Kamiak did take the ball, they passed with purpose and did well to work it upfield, but they had little luck getting behind the Lake Stevens back line. The couple instances in which they did were quickly wiped out by a back-tracking defender, not allowing the Knights many avenues to fight their way back into the game.
Meanwhile, the Vikings kept pressing forward. Working from the back, junior Carley Robertson let a defender overshoot her attempted tackle as she possessed the ball around midfield before sending it in space down the right sideline to senior Cora Jones. Jones brought the ball into the right corner — similar to where Tupua had it just over 30 minutes earlier — and crossed it in.
Once again, Clifton was left alone on the back post, and scored with a header to make it 3-0 in the 36th minute. The forward said she was surprised the Kamiak defense let her post up there for a second time.
Kamiak started the second half with a push, but Lake Stevens held firm. Anastasi liked what she saw from the defenders in front of her, keeping things clean and giving her space to make the routine stops any time she was needed.
“(Kamiak) came out a little harder, and I mean, that’s just the nature (of the game), they’re down 3-0,” Anastasi said. “But I think that we kept our composure and we didn’t have to deal with nothing insanely dangerous, and I think our back line is good at that in those types of situations under pressure, and it keeps us composed.”
Junior defender Judith Roehl made a crucial slide tackle in the box in the 52nd minute, clean enough to eliminate a potential Kamiak chance without fouling to give them a penalty. On the ensuing corner kick, Kamiak senior Brooklyn Parker delivered a good cross to senior Ashlyn Hammons, but a cluster of Vikings defenders obstructed every possible shooting lane before the ball was cleared away.
Anastasi herself made a big clear in the 68th minute, leaving the box to boot a 50/50 ball up the field before the Knights could capitalize on the danger.
With the game winding down, Tupua made one last push, muscling past four defenders before she was tripped up in the box. She converted the penalty kick in the 78th minute to lock in the 4-0 final.
The Vikings passed their big challenge with flying colors, but Ford expects an even bigger one the next time the teams meet at Kamiak on Oct. 21.
“A lot of these teams that you meet that are going to be tougher, it’s often a matter of will versus skill,” Ford said. “And I think our girls tonight had a stronger desire. It’s still a very long season. I’m sure Kamiak will regroup and they’ll come at us hard.”
For now, Lake Stevens will revel in an important victory, which gave them sole possession of first place in Wesco 4A. After taking some time to sort out their new lineup coming off last season’s state championship run, the Vikings feel like they have a better idea of who they are this season, with Ford describing it as a team of 11 stars rather than just one or two.
“It was a rough start, a rough first two weeks,” Anastasi said. “We were kind of like, ‘Oh gosh, coming off a state champ, what is going on?’ But as we regathered, kind of figured everything out, we noticed our strong pieces and utilizing them is our peak, and it’s only up from here.”
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