SNOHOMISH – When both teams walk off the field shaking their heads, you know the match has ended in a tie.
Eighty minutes and a pair of five-minute overtimes were not enough for a winner to emerge Tuesday night at Snohomish Veterans Memorial Stadium, nor was it enough time for the Snohomish soccer team to secure the Western Conference North Division title against the only team to beat the Panthers this season.
After the game, both sides had reasons to smile and reasons to be disappointed.
“I really think we should’ve won,” said Cascade goalkeeper Phillip Thomas, who stopped 13 shots, nine of which came after halftime.
“We should’ve won,” Cascade coach Randy Malikowski said.
“We definitely had our opportunities to win, but we didn’t,” said Snohomish center midfielder Justin Abel, whose team finished second in the 2003 Class 4A state tournament.
“Coulda, shoulda, woulda,” muttered Snohomish coach Dan Pingrey, whose team could snare its seventh straight league title by winning or tying the season finale at Mount Vernon on Thursday.
The tie accomplished more for Snohomish (12-1-2) than it did for the Bruins (11-2-2). Cascade could’ve all but assured itself of the league title by beating the Panthers for a second time. The Bruins could claim the title with a victory over winless Arlington coupled with a Snohomish loss at Mount Vernon.
“A tie is good,” said Malikowski, whose team beat Snohomish 2-1 on April 3. “Any time you can beat a team that’s ranked nationally, it’s a good thing. We feel good about what we did.
“They had everything to lose, and we had nothing to lose coming into this game.”
Most of the match featured impressive defense by a pair of teams that have combined for 15 shutouts this season. The Panthers, who out-shot Cascade 25-9, dominated possession in the second half, taking 14 shots to the Bruins’ one.
Snohomish’s best chance of the second half came when Abel tapped a pass to Brandon Kelley at point-blank range with seven minutes remaining. Kelley fired, but Thomas dived to his left and deflected the ball to make one of his many acrobatic saves. He quickly got back to his feet and tracked the ball down in front of his goal.
Though he’d have liked one of his players to have put one in the net, Pingrey couldn’t help appreciate a gem of a game in the rain played before a large crowd.
“That was fun,” Pingrey said. “That was a fast-paced, well-played, good-skilled hard game. It was almost all perfect.”
Goalkeepers-Cascade: Thomas. Snohomish: Riley. Records-Cascade 11-2-2 in division and overall. Snohomish 12-1-2, 12-1-2. |
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