SHORELINE — It may have been a more roundabout route than the Shorecrest High School boys soccer team had envisioned, but the Scots are headed to state.
Shorecrest’s roller-coaster ride through the Class 3A District 1 tournament came to a happy conclusion Saturday afternoon, as the Scots avenged an earlier tournament loss by defeating Mountlake Terrace 3-1 at a sunny Shoreline Stadium, thus earning the district’s fifth-and-final state tournament berth.
Yosi Haile scored twice in the first 15 minutes, and it was mostly smooth sailing from there for the second-seeded Scots (16-3-1), who survived two loser-out games at district. Levi Rosman also found the net for Shorecrest, which controlled play through much of the game.
“We really wanted to go to state,” Haile said. “I’m a senior and for us this is our last year, so we had to win. We’re a good team, we just had to talk and work hard for it. I’m happy we made it to state.”
Fedel Tewolde scored for Mountlake Terrace. The Hawks, who were on a Cinderella ride as the No. 10 seed, finished their season 8-11-2.
The district tournament was a topsy-turvy journey for the Scots. Shorecrest was the No. 2 seed after losing just once during the regular season. However, the Scots faced a challenging path after being upset 2-1 on penalty kicks by Mountlake Terrace in their first district game, and a 4-0 loss to Edmonds-Woodway on Thursday meant Shorecrest had more defeats in three district games than it had in 16 regular season contests.
But in Saturday’s do-or-die contest, the Scots left little to chance as they grabbed control early. Shorecrest forced a series of corners in the early going, and it paid off twice. First, in the 10th minute, a corner from the right wasn’t cleared, and Haile poked the loose ball home from point blank to give the Scots the lead. Then just five minutes later it was a mirror image, as a corner from the left wasn’t cleared and Haile slammed it home again from close range to make it 2-0.
”We talked about how on every ball we have to score,” Haile said about the key to the early goals. “If you get any chances, we can’t miss any goals. That’s what happened.”
The Scots continued to control play, but the Hawks scored against the run of play late in the half to make it a contest. Confusion between the Shorecrest defense and goalkeeper allowed a long clearance to bounce, and Tewolde lifted a shot with the outside of his foot over the defenders and into the net just before it could be cleared, pulling Mountlake Terrace within one in the 34th minute.
However, Shorecrest effectively put the game away in the 52nd minute. Rosman’s deft touch allowed him to spin past a defender and free himself down the left. Then from just inside the penalty box he drilled a low shot into the far corner to restore the Scots’ two-goal advantage.
Mountlake Terrace didn’t quit, and the Hawks created some half chances inside the Shorecrest penalty box in the waning moments, but they weren’t able to find the net again.
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