SHORELINE — The Shorecrest High School girls soccer team delivered a 4-1 dominating performance on Thursday night against Monroe in a 3A District 1 winner-to-state, loser-out game.
The Scots’ excitement for a fourth-consecutive trip to state comes five days after they lost to fourth-seeded Oak Harbor, 3-2, knocking the 2022 district winners out of contention for this year’s district championship trophy. Shorecrest’s (14-4-2 overall) shared third-place district finish with 11th-seeded Mountlake Terrace also arrives after a 2-0 win over first-seeded Snohomish on Tuesday.
Scots sophomore forward Olivia Taylor tallied two goals, and sophomore defender Kai Johnson and senior midfielder Bailey Matthew each contributed one. Though senior goalkeeper Kylee Mitchell had one shot get past her about halfway into the first half, she tallied several saves to keep the Bearcats (10-8-0) off the scoreboard for the remainder of the contest.
Shorecrest’s Olivia Taylor dribbles the ball across the field during the 3A district game against Monroe on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024 in Shoreline, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
“Our goal was to get on our front foot and to attack teams and not let them come at us,” said Shorecrest coach Mindy Dalziel, whose team has qualified for state the past three seasons, placing second last year. “In order for us to be a game changer, we needed to change our tactics, so getting on our front foot, going at teams, pressing them (and) giving ourselves opportunities to win balls in the final third.
“That game against Oak Harbor, … I think my girls were just not ready to realize that their season could be done, and so to lose to Oak kind of just flipped that switch for them, and they don’t want to be done,” she continued. “And so to not be in that district championship game on Saturday and to have to get through the hard way, … I’m proud of them because they are relying on each other to be a good team.”
In the fourth minute, Johnson slotted a right-footed strike from about 30 yards out that bounced inside the six-yard box and into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Monroe senior forward Sydney Garner delivered a cross from a corner kick in the 22nd minute that dropped into the 18-yard box, and the Bearcats rocketed two shots on goal that were both saved by Mitchell before senior forward Halle Keller scored on a third attempt to tie it 1-1.
The Scots quickly made it 2-1 two minutes later when Taylor released a shot that was partially deflected into the net by a Monroe defender. And in the last five minutes before halftime, Matthew floated a right-footed shot from about 25 yards out over the goalkeeper and into the corner of the goal for a 3-1 lead.
Senior forward Sarah Ehrhart curled a right-footed pass from a corner kick in the 60th minute that Taylor redirected on a header for the game’s final score.
“We knew going into this the keeper definitely drops the ball a lot, so having that follow was really good,” Taylor said. “When Kai hit that, … everyone wasn’t really expecting that follow up, and it just went right in. For the corner, … I went where my (alignment) was. … And that’s where the ball ended up, and I nailed that.”
In addition to Shorecrest, Mountlake Terrace — which came off a penalty-shootout victory over 10th-seeded Everett on Tuesday — downed eighth-seeded Sedro-Woolley 1-0 on Thursday and received the fourth state berth. Second-seeded Shorewood battles fourth-seeded Oak Harbor for the district title on Saturday. Both teams earned state berths with victories in Tuesday’s semifinal matches.
Seeding for the 2024 3A state tournament will be announced on Sunday.
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