T-birds clip Mountlake Terrace

SHORELINE — Despite back-to-back losses to close out the preseason, a young Mountlake Terrace girls soccer team has emerged as a contender in the Western Conference 4A South Division.

Sophomore forward Lauren Sego punched in a pair of goals to help Shorewood bounce the up-and-coming Hawks 3-1 Tuesday night at Shoreline Stadium.

“We just had a off game,” Mountlake Terrace junior forward Hayley Henry said. “The passes weren’t there. We weren’t playing together.”

It was the third straight win for Shorewood (3-3-0 overall) and just the second preseason loss for the Hawks (4-2-1). League games were scheduled to begin last night.

Shorewood kept the pressure on Terrace’s defense with a flurry of shots in the first 10 minutes. But the Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute when junior forward Hayley Henry dribbled through two defenders and finished off a ball that slipped out of T-birds goalkeeper Tiffany Dillow’s grip.

It was the only opening the Thunderbirds gave Mountlake Terrace all night.

“In the first half, (Shorewood) kept the ball on our end a lot, but when we had chances, we took advantage,” said Henry, who led the Hawks with eight goals and four assists through seven games.

Two minutes later, Sego evened the score with an up-close blast after the ball popped free from a pack of players in front of the Terrace goal.

Working off a Megan Sego pass, Shorewood midfielder Akosua Fordjour broke the tie in the 64th minute with a sharp, turnaround boot from 15 yards out.

Lauren Sego added a second goal in the 70th minute, beating Mountlake Terrace goalie Carly Wheat to a loose ball near the edge of the goal box and angling a left-footed drive into the open net.

Henry isn’t surprised by Mountlake Terrace’s hot start to the season.

“It felt awesome,” she said. “We want to keep it up.”