EVERETT — Though the outcome on the scoreboard was good, there were things about Tuesday’s game with Cascade that left Snohomish boys soccer coach Dan Pingrey less than pleased.
In particular, focus and execution in the Panthers’ 3-1 Wesco 4A victory over the Bruins on a cold and sometimes rainy evening at Everett Memorial Stadium.
As Pingrey put it, the showing was “ugly.” The Panthers were playing their first game since last week’s spring break, “and that’s a bad excuse,” he said. “But that’s exactly how we played. Mentally we didn’t come. We weren’t sharp.
“I’m glad we won, but (the team’s play) wasn’t good enough. And it’s not going to be good enough for us to continue (winning).”
The Panthers, of course, are the two-time defending Class 4A state champions, so the expectations are high. And even though there are just two full-time starters back from a year ago, the team remains undefeated at 8-0-1 overall, 7-0-0 in Wesco games.
“I’m very pleased with where we’re at,” Pingrey said. “And I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect it.” For the team to do well, he went on, “everybody has to raise their game, but also understand what their strength is and not try to do too much.
“We’ve had some special players in the past, but we’re not special per se (this season). And we can’t come out and play half speed mentally and physically and expect to get results. We did tonight and that’s great, but that’s not the kind of team we are. We have to be better than that.”
Cascade opened the scoring 12 minutes into the game on a penalty kick by Brian Huynh. Bruins midfielder Anton Suyurov was taken down in the penalty box on a run from the left side, and Huynh knocked the ensuing kick in the upper right corner of the net.
That score stood until late in the first half when the Panthers got a pair of goals in the space of two minutes. The first, with about eight minutes before halftime, when Snohomish’s Nate Nicholson got a deflected ball in front after a long throw-in and was able to loop a header over a leaping Jacob Browne, Cascade’s goalkeeper.
Just two minutes later Panthers forward Jason Fairhurst gathered the ball left of the goal after a throw-in, whirled and blasted a shot just inside the far post to put Snohomish on top.
The Panthers added an insurance goal 12 minutes into the second half as Fairhurst delivered a terrific pass to teammate Logan Stapleton coming free down the middle. Stapleton gathered the ball in full stride and slipped a shot past the oncoming Browne into the right side of the net.
But down two goals late in the game, the Bruins refused to buckle. Much of the last 20 minutes was played in their attacking end, and they had several point-blank chances to chip into the deficit. But the Snohomish defense remained stout to the final whistle.
“We started off kind of rough,” Fairhurst said. “We needed a little wake-up call and that (early Cascade) goal kind of did it to us. We’ve been able to overcome being down all season long and it’s happened a couple of times.”
Though the Panthers lost some terrific players to graduation off last year’s team, “the expectations never change,” added Fairhurst, a junior. “The players do, but the expectations haven’t changed in all my three years. It’s always been the same and Dan always expects the same out of us. He expects greatness, nothing less.”
At Everett Memorial Stadium
Goals—Nate Nicholson (S), Jason Fairhurst (S), Logan Stapleton (S), Brian Huynh (c). Records—Snohomish 7-0-0 league, 8-0-1 overall. Cascade 4-3-0, 5-4-0.
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