SHORELINE — Though it left room for debate with its rivals regarding who was best in the Shoreline School District on Monday night, the Shorewood High School boys soccer team proved to be tops in Wesco 3A/2A over the course of the season.
League-champion Shorewood tied rival Shorecrest 1-1 in the regular season finale for both teams. The last game came with a slightly bitter taste, but the rest of 2024 has been sweet for the Stormrays, who clinched the top seed in the Class 3A District 1 playoffs.
“We knew we had the conference locked up and were fairly certain we had the No. 1 seed regardless of this game,” said Shorewood coach Shaun Warner, whose team will play its first playoff game on 1 p.m. Saturday at Shoreline Stadium. “But they wanted to win, and we wanted to win.”
Midfielder Dzanan Fikic scored in the second minute for Shorewood (14-1-1 overall, 13-1-1 league), and defender Porter Lewis pushed upfield and answered in the seventh minute for the Highlanders (8-5-3 overall, 8-4-3 league). Defenses tightened through the next 83 minutes, which included two scoreless overtime periods.
Fikic, a senior, ran toward the sideline after netting a rare open look at the goal against the Scots, and slid on his knees across the turf before being mobbed by teammates.
“It was a great feeling to score against my rivals and put my team ahead,” said Fikic, who has scored 11 goals this season. “We wanted to come out on top on senior night, but we just couldn’t do it.”
While the Highlanders wanted the win, they also saw the match as an opportunity to prepare for a chance at a return trip to state. Shorecrest coach Teddy Mitalas said his team was happy with the 1-1 draw against its rival.
“I just wanted to compete against them and make sure we’re getting ready for districts,” Mitalas said. “I know they’re a tough team. They’ve got a lot of really good players.”
The District 1 tournament — which includes the top 12 teams 3A teams from the Wesco and Northwest leagues ranked by an Rating Percentage Index (RPI) system — begins Thursday. The top four teams receive a bye, and on Saturday will face Thursday’s survivors. Four teams receive state berths. Fifth-seeded Shorecrest plays Ferndale, the No. 12 seed, Thursday at Shoreline Stadium. The Stormrays await the winner of Thursday’s game between the No. 8 and 9 seeds.
Second-seeded Edmonds-Woodway — the only team to beat the Stormrays this season — plays the 7-10 winner on Saturday.
Mount Vernon and Cascade earned the third and fourth seeds, respectively. Arlington, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Everett and Meadowdale also qualified for the tournament.
Mitalas will try to quickly learn as much as he can about Ferndale before the opening-round matchup.
“I know nothing about them,” Mitalas said. “But soccer is soccer, and it’s high school soccer. Whoever wants it with their heart will win.”
With teams playing each other only once this season, it’s anyone’s guess which four teams will claim state berths.
“A lot of the scorelines were close this year,” Warner said. “There’s going to be a lot of, ‘I can’t believe that happened,’ type games. But, I think we’re ready to play.”
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