SHORELINE — As rare as defeats of any kind have been the past few years for the Shorewood girls soccer team, league losses are almost unheard of.
Almost.
Meadowdale dealt the defending Western Conference 4A South Division champs their first league loss in two seasons, edging the Thunderbirds 1-0 in a matchup of league-leaders Oct. 10 at Lynnwood High School.
Courtney Hughes scored the lone goal 20 minutes in to seal her team’s third consecutive 1-0 victory and sixth win in seven games.
“We weren’t really playing our game,” Shorewood midfielder Lea John said. “Nothing was connecting real well. We didn’t feel like we were playing as a team.”
The T-birds (3-1-0 league, 10-1-0 overall) hadn’t been shut out since a 2-0 loss to eventual 4A champion Tahoma in the quarterfinals of last year’s state playoffs.
The defeat snapped Shorewood’s 9-0 start and marked just the third time this season the T-birds were held to less than three goals.
But at practice a day later, everyone appeared ready to move on.
“We’re not going to dwell on the past,” John said. “We’re going to focus on what we need to do to improve as a team.”
Shorewood bounced back for a 3-0 win over Jackson Oct. 15. Lauren Sego, Akosua Fordjour and John all scored.
Through their first 11 games, the T-birds outscored opposing teams 29-7. Senior forward Nanda McCormick has netted 10 goals and five assists and John has supplied five assists.
“We have done a good job of getting past the defense,” John said. “We have a lot of skilled players who know how to pass on the ground. In high school, you don’t find that a lot.
“This team has a core group of people who can pass it on the ground and keep control and get the ball to the forwards.”
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