SHORELINE
Once again, Safaa Al-Jelaihawi was at the right place at the right time.
The junior forward scored his third game-winning goal of the season to give Shorewood a 2-1 victory over Snohomish in the 4A District 1 championship, Thursday, May 8 at Shoreline Stadium.
After a shot by midfielder Sam Olson, the ball bounced to Al-Jelaihawi near the left post and he knocked it past Snohomish goalkeeper Scott Lane in the 78th minute.
“I just dove for it, I didn’t think I was going to get to it because I saw that defender right on it,” Al-Jelaihawi said. “I reached out my right foot and touched it in.”
Al-Jelaihawi, who had game-winners against Shorecrest and Meadowdale during the regular season, missed wide left on a shot a few minutes before he connected.
“I messed up the last one, I was working on it. I needed that one,” he said.
With the win, Shorewood (15-1-1) adds a district title to its Western Conference South Division title and earned a home game Tuesday, May 13 in the first round of the state 4A playoffs. The Thunderbirds will be a No. 1 seed.
“I didn’t think we’d get this far,” goalkeeper Dorian Lair said. “It feels awesome to have one loss and one tie and 15 wins. It’s a dream come true.”
A dream come true, in what’s been a dream season, so far.
“Everything just clicked from the first game,” senior defender Stefano Johnson said. “We came out winning, then we beat Shorecrest. We kept playing well. We haven’t dropped off our intensity level, we’ve kept it high.”
Shorewood came out with intensity in the first half and struck first in the 31st minute.
Midfielder Sam Olson set up inside the goal box and headed in a throw-in by defender Stuart Schaefer.
Immediately after the goal, Snohomish switched to a three-forward set in an attempt to capitalize on its speed up front.
The move paid off midway through the second half when Aaron Burns stole a back pass and broke for the goal. Lair came out to challenge Burns at the top of the penalty box but Burns dribbled around him, went left, shot and scored.
Snohomish developed another scoring opportunity in the 65th minute when forward Brendon Gundry dribbled down inside the penalty box before he was upended by Lair, who pounced on the loose ball.
“For the most part, it’s a good battle,” Snohomish coach Dan Pingrey said. “I thought in the second half we were getting lots of opportunities and were creating things.
Pingrey said his keeper should have anticipated the winning goal.
“Seriously, that’s a shot that needs to be collected. It’s as simple as that,” he said.
Jon MacArthur, the usual starting goalkeeper was ineligible because of what Pingrey called “a school issue.”
The last time Shorewood went to state in 2004, the T-birds lost to Snohomish in the district title game.
“It’s groundbreaking for the guys,” Shorewood coach Mark Wisdom said of the win. “They have been real calm about it and they talk to each other about keeping calm heads and focus. They smile a lot these days.”
Shorewood was missing one key player who was instrumental to its success this season, senior center midfielder Alex Bresnan. Bresnan is out for the season with an ankle injury.
“I feel bad for a kid to miss out on his senior year, the home stretch here,” Wisdom said.
“It doesn’t make or break the deal, others have stepped up,” he added, referring to center midfielders Colton Carr and Ciaran Regan.
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