SHORELINE — When Pip Watkinson stepped up to take a corner kick for Shorecrest girls soccer in the final minutes of the first half against Monroe in a District 1 3A loser-out Consolation game at Shoreline Stadium on Tuesday, it was a different look than their earlier set piece opportunities.
Instead of Shorecrest’s usual corner taker, sophomore Ava Sasnett, it was her classmate who stepped up to take it instead. After Monroe tied the game 1-1 just 10 minutes earlier, Shorecrest had a prime opportunity to jump back ahead before the break. However, the decision didn’t come from coach Mindy Dalziel. It was agreed upon by the girls themselves.
“They are maturing and they are growing,” Dalziel said. “They don’t look at each other anymore as a freshman, a sophomore, a junior, a senior. They look at each other as teammates, and they want what’s best for their team.”
In that moment, Sasnett thought it would be best for Watkinson to send the ball in. After stepping up behind the ball, Watkinson said a quick prayer, hoping for an assist. She spotted junior Kai Johnson, one of the tallest among a sea of players in the box, and decided to aim for her head. She launched the ball right on target to Johnson, who headed the ball through to score. Just as Sasnett expected.
“I had a great feeling,” Sasnett said. “Because I was like, ‘Pip, you’re taking it,’ and I knew it.”
She turned to Watkinson. “And I told you! You were gonna (set up the goal).”
The Scots (10-4-4) entered halftime with a 2-1 lead, and they scored two more goals en route to a 4-1 victory to keep their season alive while eliminating the Bearcats (10-6-1) from state-qualifying contention. After handing the set piece off to Watkinson in the first half, it was Sasnett who contributed to both second-half tallies with a goal and an assist.
Shorecrest had fallen into the consolation bracket following a 5-1 loss to Oak Harbor on Saturday, an upset that shocked the Scots’ system. Entering Tuesday’s match, the team felt refocused when it came to executing their passing and playing together as a team.
“I think also just matching the team’s intensity,” Watkinson said. “Coming out strong and ready to play, because (against) Oak Harbor, we were kind of just not ready for what they had coming, so we wanted to flip that mentality.”
So when junior Olivia Taylor ripped through the middle to put a shot on net in the first minute, it didn’t surprise anyone on Shorecrest’s bench. Just a minute later, the ball rolled up to Taylor in the box, and she poked it through from close range to give the Scots an early 1-0 lead.
“When I saw that opportunity (that) I had, I took that touch, and suddenly I was right in front of goal with the keeper on me and three defenders on my back,” Taylor said. “I just slotted it right into the lower corner.”
After missing several opportunities to take early leads in their previous games, the Scots felt a big boost from Taylor putting them on the board in just the second minute.
The Bearcats jumped back with a couple of close chances a few minutes later, with Monroe freshman McKenzie Allen heading a corner cross towards the goal. It bounced towards the frame before Shorecrest goalkeeper Mickie McNeil punched it over the crossbar for another corner. Allen put her head on it again, and while it went wide, the Bearcats recovered the ball for another chance. Ultimately, it rolled out for a Scots goal kick.
Shorecrest recovered to control most of the possession throughout the first half, trying to get behind the Monroe defense with through-balls, but not often connecting. The Bearcats found an opening in the 30th minute, when freshman Finley Greear took the ball up the left side, beat a defender and sent a cross to junior Anfield Kelly, who booted it in from the back post to tie it 1-1.
“We’ve worked really hard on working on making teams play chase,” Dalziel said. “We want the ball, we want to be able to possess it and keep it, and that was working, but then we weren’t going forward as much with it. … Credit to Monroe, they switched some people around, and we didn’t track it well enough. They played a dangerous ball over the top and off they go. Those mistakes in a girls’ game of soccer are very detrimental if you’re not on your toes and paying attention.”
Both Taylor and Greear put a shot on goal in the final five minutes for each of their sides, but Monroe goalkeeper Brooke Parkinson and McNeil made respective saves to keep the game level until Watkinson connected with Johnson for the go-ahead strike before the break.
Energized by retaking the lead, Shorecrest pushed up the middle immediately following the second-half kickoff, but Monroe got in the way before any dangerous chances could be created. The Bearcats started to push the pace in the early going of the second half, but Sasnett broke through with a long-range shot into the back of the net in the 50th minute to increase the Scots’ lead to 3-1.
“Coach Mindy, she told me — she told all of us to take shots from far,” Sasnett said. “So I saw the goal open and I was like, ‘I’m gonna take it.’ And I did not expect it to go in, but it worked out.”
Sasnett helped pad the lead even further in the 65th minute, dribbling up the left side and sending a cross to freshman Nemesia Peters, who knocked it through the goalkeeper’s legs to solidify the 4-1 final.
Shorecrest will face Edmonds-Woodway in a final loser-out match on Thursday with a state tournament berth on the line. After the disappointment of Saturday’s quarterfinal loss to Oak Harbor, the Scots feel back on track with another chance to save their season.
“It definitely gives us a little bit more momentum for this upcoming game on Thursday,” Watkinson said. “And a little bit of a confidence boost. It’s nice to know we’re still in it, so I think we’re just going to go at them hard on Thursday and do what we can.”
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