SHORELINE — Just call them the Great Wall of Ballard.
The Ballard High School boys soccer team’s defensive trio of Lucas Sussman, Cole French and Jack Rollins was as impenetrable as China’s Great Wall was to the northern tribes, and as a result the Shorewood Stormrays’ season came to an abrupt end.
Shorewood found no route through the heart of Ballard’s stout defense, and the District 1-champion Stormrays were upset by the Beavers 3-0 in the Class 3A state round of 16 Thursday night at Shoreline Stadium.
The third-seeded Stormrays were coming off consecutive victories against undefeated foes and had been shut out just once all season long. But Ballard’s towering trio left no room for Shorewood’s attackers to get through, and Ballard goals early in each half left the Stormrays futilely banging their heads against the Beavers’ gargantuan stone barrier.
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“Their back line was incredible, it was a tough shell to crack,” Shorewood coach Shaun Warner said. “A lot of goals in high school soccer come on set pieces, but when they have that kind of size … we created a lot of set pieces, we just couldn’t really get on one because they were so talented.”
Carson Ruegamer scored twice and Gray LeVasseur had a highlight-reel blast for 14th-seeded Ballard (12-5-4), which has now won six loser-out games this postseason. The Beavers advanced to face No. 11 Seattle Prep, a 3-0 victor over No. 6 Lake Washington two hours earlier, in the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. Saturday at Shoreline Stadium.
Shorewood, back at state for the first time since 2015, finished its season 16-3-1.
”What an incredible season,” Warner said. “It’s bittersweet, I’m sad that the season is ending. But I want them to think about all the great things: 16 wins, a conference title, a lot of really good things. And we were young. We had five seniors on our roster, which is a pretty low number, and we return a big core. The seniors left an incredible legacy for thees young guys, and I’m very proud of these guys.”
It was evident from the opening kick that Ballard’s size and power, particularly at the back, were going to be a challenge for Shorewood to deal with at both ends of the field, and it took just eight minutes for that power to impact the scoreboard. Rollins was able to drop a free kick from midfield right onto the penalty spot, where Reugamer leaped high to flick a header into the top-left corner to give Ballard and early 1-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Shorewood’s inability to unlock Ballard’s defense forced Warner to switch formations, going from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 to try and match the Beavers. The switch helped the Stormrays gain more control of the ball in midfield, but didn’t get Shorewood any closer to the goal as the first half ended without the Stormrays having a single decent scoring chance.
Ballard then delivered a hammer blow just three minutes into the second half. LeVasseur gathered the ball in midfield and let fly with a rocket from 30 yards out that lasered into the upper-right corner, making it 2-0.
Shorewood finally had its first look at goal three minutes later. Isaak Abraham’s free kick from 25 yards was blocked by Ballard’s wall, but Abraham got to the rebound and sent a low shot that appeared destined for the far corner. However, Ballard goalkeeper Natan Adamasu dived to his left and somehow reached out a hand to not only stop the shot, but also hold it to prevent a rebound.
“I think that changed the game a little bit, just momentum-wise and confidence-wise,” Warner said. “If that goes in I think it’s a different ballgame.”
Five minutes later Ballard put it away. On a lightning-quick break, Elijah Post played a deft defense-splitting ball with the outside of his foot, sending a streaking Ruegamer through on goal. Ruegamer rounded Shorewood goalkeeper Conner Cann and rolled the ball into the open net, all but ending the game as a contest.
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