MONROE – Leave it to two sophomores to ruin a historic night for seven seniors.
That was the case Tuesday night as Caitlin Hurt and Alyssa Licht hooked up on the game-winning goal in overtime as first-place Lake Stevens defeated Monroe 2-1 in a Western Conference North Division girls soccer game in the first-ever sports event at Monroe’s on-campus stadium.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way for the Bearcats, whose senior class had been waiting for the chance to play a home game in a brand-new facility featuring Field Turf.
For decades, Monroe has been relegated to a run-down, battered field downtown with little in the way of aesthetics or comfort. At the new place, on the south outskirts of town, the setting couldn’t be any more opposite.
“The kids were pretty fired up to play here tonight,” Monroe coach Kathleen Potthast said.
Plus, there was last week’s drama to throw into the mix. Lake Stevens, now 6-2 in league, 6-2 overall, was coming off an upset at Snohomish last Thursday. Monroe (4-2-1 in league and overall), which entered the game in a three-way tie for second place, had tied the Panthers in their last game a week ago.
The stage was set for a showdown between two heavyweights. Fitting then, that the contest came down to the wire. Licht broke free on the right side of the field and found Hurt just outside the left front of the box at the 2:40 mark in overtime to send the Vikings off with their second consecutive huge road win.
“We were sending our opposite forward onto the keeper and hitting that gap and (Hurt) was there,” Lake Stevens coach Dianne Mattingly said.
“I kind of knew I needed to get in front of the defender,” Hurt said. “And then when Alyssa got it, I was just telling myself, ‘don’t mess up, don’t mess up.’ “
For Potthast, it was a painful way to end a memorable evening. Especially after watching her keeper, junior Kayla Wangner, make a save just prior to the winning kick.
“No one was at the backdoor, and they were,” Potthast said. The back-and-forth affair saw Lake Stevens out-shoot Monroe by one, 18-17. Several of these shots came via each team’s star: Viking Raelynne Lee and Bearcat Chelsea Bumbaugh.
Only Bumbaugh managed to punch one in. She did so at the 17:24 mark of the game, when she took a perfect Keena Hopkins’ pass from 35 yards out on the left hash mark. After loosing a defender, Bumbaugh, who has verbally committed to Washington, sailed the ball from left to right into the right corner of the box to tie it at 1-1.
Lake Stevens’ first goal came with 33:20 remaining in the second half. Alyssa Isaman crossed the ball from the right side of the field to the front of the goal. There, Taylor Cochran booted it into the left corner of the goal past an outstretched Wangner.
As for the stadium, it will see its first football action Friday night when the Bearcats host Cascade at 7 p.m.
At Monroe Stadium
Goals-Lake Stevens: Cochran, Hurt. Monroe: Bumbaugh. Assists-Lake Stevens: Isaman, Licht. Monroe: Hopkins. Goalkeepers- Lake Stevens: Osborn. Monroe: Wangner. Records-Lake Stevens 6-2 in league, 6-2 overall. Monroe 4-2-1, 4-2-1.
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