Scots can’t find goal against Mariner, tie again

EVERETT — The goal must have appeared extremely small to the Shorecrest boys soccer team during 90 minutes of soccer April 28 at Goddard Stadium.

Shorecrest tied Mariner 0-0 for its third tie in four matches.

Shorecrest dominated the first half outshooting Mariner 7-1, but couldn’t find the net. Mariner’s offense picked up in the second half and the Marauders had eight shots to Shorecrest’s five.

After a scoreless first overtime, Shorecrest’s Josh Rudnick had an open shot at the goal in the 86th minute but it missed wide right. A minute later, Mariner’s Corey Hendrickson pushed Shorecrest forward Spencer Schrote in the penalty box, giving the Scots a golden opportunity to win the game on a penalty kick.

But Shorecrest midfielder Kurtis Wong pushed the kick to the right of the goal and Mariner was off the hook.

Like its previous ties with Jackson and Edmonds-Woodway, it was a case of opportunities missed.

“I’m off,” Schrote said. “The whole team cannot score. We’re in scoring slump. We’re still playing all right, we’re just playing teams to ties because we can’t put away our chances.”

Shorecrest moved a player from the defense to the midfield to create more offensive opportunities.

“We were hoping maybe we would maybe get an extra person in the central midfield area to give us a little more on the attack,” Shorecrest coach Drew Thompson said. “I think it did. We just didn’t finish our chances again.”

The Marauders constantly challenged for balls and moved the ball better on offense in the second half.

“They might not be the best skill team in the world but they always work hard so you got to tip your hat to them for working hard. They challenged us,” Shorecrest midfielder Teddy Wingo said.

Shorecrest will host a first round 3A Northwest District playoff game at 1 p.m. at Shoreline Stadium.

“We’re just not playing good ball. We’re trying to turn it around before districts but hopefully this will be the final lesson learned,” Schrote said after the Mariner game.

The Scots revved up the offense in a 9-0 regular season-ending win over Lynnwood, May 2. Schrote, Wong and and Mike Ehrhart scored twice and Elan Wright secured the shutout in goal.