EDMONDS
It looked like Meadowdale was going to win its first round state game with ease. The Mavericks marched on down the field after the opening kickoff, and set up for a corner kick moments later.
Then Prairie goalkeeper Baylee Dolph made an incredible diving safe, the Falcons scored on some nice runs and lucky breaks and the Mavericks’ season ended in a 2-0 loss at the 3A state soccer tournament.
“They got the job done,” Meadowdale head coach Don Nelson said. “Congratulations to them.”
A series of unfortunate events struck Meadowdale during both of the Falcons’ goals.
The first came three minutes after halftime when a Mavericks’ defender tripped and fell to the turf, leaving Prairie’s Hannah Hainline, who had just received a pass from Kindra Scobba, one-on-one with goalkeeper Brianna Eney.
Misfortune struck again in the 61st minute when a shot was saved by Eney, but the deflection went right to the feet of Falcon forward Cassie Hoyt, who redirected it into the goal. On the play Scobba notched her second assist in the game.
“I thought we got a really fortunate goal on the second one,” Prairie head coach Michael Thyron said. “We were on the good side of fortune.”
“Prairie came to play ball,” Nelson said. “We’re much quicker normally. Prairie was first to the ball a lot.”
Thyron noted a number of similarities between the two soccer teams, including both teams’ abilities to play quickly off short passes.
“We knew it was going to be a close game,” he said. “We thought we were playing our twin sister.”
Thyron pointed to that first Meadowdale run of the game, and said Prairie was fortunate the Mavericks couldn’t capitalize or the game may have taken a much different turn.
“That was probably the key moment of the first half right there,” the Falcons’ coach said. “If that had gone in we’d be playing catch-up all game.
“(Dolph) saved our bacon in the first two minutes of the game.”
Meadowdale created quite a few other opportunities to score. With five minutes to go in the first half Marcail McDonald got a good shot off after a pass from Maddi Null that went wide right.
A couple minutes later Alisa Sagdahl got tangled up with a defender and fell to the ground right as she approached the goalkeeper box. Shortly after Brittany Evarts kicked a free kick that was headed close to the goal but sailed out of bounce.
“They play through anything,” Nelson said. “They’re gamers.”
It looked like Prairie might add another goal to its tally in the 51st minute but instead Scobba earned a yellow card after sliding into Eney as she was going for a save.
As Meadowdale’s season wound down, and the district playoffs-and eventually the state tournament-began, the Mavericks adopted a motto to rally around: “Believe.”
“And they have,” Nelson said. “You don’t win the district championship on a whim.
“The girls had a tremendous run. No one expected us to do what they did. I couldn’t be prouder.”
The second half featured a lot of organized Meadowdale attacks and Prairie defenders running to the ball and booting it as far out of bounds as possible. The Mavericks were still able to get a few shots off, thanks in large part to Null, who seemed to dribble around defenders with ease.
“Maddi did a good job,” Nelson said. “I thought (the whole team) did a good job.”
Thyron, who had never faced Meadowdale before, praised the Mavericks on how they conducted themselves before, during and after the game.
“I think they’re a really classy team,” he said. “Complements to Meadowdale. They’re a good team. It was a good game. It’s unfortunate someone had to lose.”
Meadowdale fought to the end, kicking corner kicks and making runs right up until the whistle sounded.
Thyron said after the game that Prairie paid special attention to forwards Null, Sagdahl and Emily Crichlow.
“21 (Sagdahl), 9 (Null) and 15 (Crichlow) are their key players,” Thyron said. “We definitely had to pay some close attention to where they were.”
In the end Prairie, which plays in the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League, moved on to face Kennedy on Nov. 13 in the state quarterfinals, while Meadowdale’s (14-6 overall) season ended. But after the game, Nelson rallied his players’ spirits, making sure they left the field proud of what they accomplished this season.
“You have to take a look at what you did,” he said to the team. “You’re district champions. This takes nothing away from that.”
David Krueger writes for the Herald in Everett.
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