Shorecrest lived and died by the shootout.
On two occasions, the Scots prolonged their postseason run with shootout wins. Strangely enough, those same narrow victories ultimately played a part in their undoing.
Meadowdale coaches and players were in attendance for both overtime games and paid close attention to the habits of the Shorecrest penalty kickers.
By the time the Western Conference South Division rivals crossed paths last week in the semifinals of the Class 3A state soccer tournament, Meadowdale had a full scouting report on the Scots.
Mavericks goalkeeper Eric Marty made full use of that information when the teams entered a shootout after playing to a 1-1 stalemate in their May 28 clash at Camas High School.
Marty stopped three Shorecrest attempts during the shootout to lift Meadowdale to a 2-1 shootout victory and a spot in the state championship game.
“They watched us our last two games and it was unfortunate they saw us,” Scots coach Teddy Mitalas said. “You could see right away that Marty knew where we were going.”
Alec Nelson, Josh Swett and Colin Kosco converted their penalty kicks for Meadowdale in the shootout and Colin Adams and Kurtis Wong scored for Shorecrest.
The teams traded goals late in the first half. Meadowdale took a temporary lead when Solly Gold finished off a Swett header in the 35th minute. Four minutes later, Joey Crudo evened the score off an Elliot Richards cross.
“We kept the pressure on them end-to-end,” Mitalas said. “We never gave up. I think they were shocked we scored on them.”
While Meadowdale was making its second straight semifinal appearance, it was the first trip to the Final Four since 1999 for the Scots, who dealt the Mavericks one of their two losses this spring.
Meadowdale went on to edge Mount Rainier 3-2 in overtime in the title game the next day to claim the school’s first state soccer championship.
Shorecrest beat Cheney 1-0 in the consolation final to earn the third-place trophy.
Center midfielder Taylor Starkey netted his team-leading 14th goal of the season in the 13th minute and junior goalkeeper Rylan Hawkins recorded his 14th shutout for the Scots, who finished the season 14-5-4.
“The guys didn’t want to go all that way and take fourth place,” said Mitalas, who has yet to decide if he’ll return for a 16th season at Shorecrest.
In 15 seasons, Mitalas eclipsed 200 career victories and guided the Scots to the semifinals five times. Shorecrest finished third each time.
“A bunch of things happened this year that I didn’t expect would happen,” Mitalas said. “I kept telling the guys, ‘We have nothing to lose.’ All the pressure was on everybody else.”
That won’t be the case next season. The Scots will bring back 16 players from their playoff roster, including nine starters.
“This team can win it all next year,” Mitalas said.
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