SHORELINE — In an all-star game that featured some of the best senior and junior boys soccer players in the state, not many people saw the game’s only sophomore coming.
Jonathan Alvarez, who scored just eight goals this year for a Mountlake Terrace team which finished 2-7 in Wesco South play, played with 10 players on the South All Star team from Glacier Peak and Shorecrest — the 2010 and 2009 3A state champions — and for a half he outshone everyone.
“We knew he’d score,” Shorecrest and South coach Drew Thompson said. “I didn’t expect him to steal the show.”
Alvarez recorded a hat trick before halftime and the South cruised to a surprising 7-1 win over the North
Upon scoring for the third time in the game in the 37th minute against Stanwood goalkeeper Dalton Alumbaugh, Alvarez proceeded to complete his traditional hat trick celebration — a Samba dance that is the trademark of his soccer idol. It was Alvarez’s way of telling Brazil that it was making a mistake leaving Ronaldinho off the roster of its World Cup squad, which begins play next week.
“This year was my worst year of soccer,” Alvarez said. “It’s a good feeling to come out and finish strong.”
His brother, Manix, a senior at Terrace, made the score 4-0 in the 55th minute past Marysville-Pilchuck’s Kyle Bluhm, who manned the net in the second half.
It took until the 65th minute for someone not named Alvarez to find the back of the net. This time it was Glacier Peak’s Jackson Miller.
The North finally got on the board two minutes later when M-P’s Brady Ballew slipped one past GP’s Andrew Weakly. Weakly embodied the fun atmosphere of the game, wearing a Power Ranger’s shirt in goal and once sprinting the length of the field to try and score on a South corner kick with his team ahead 5-1.
Edmonds-Woodway’s Jeremy Wentzel and Shorecrest’s Glenn Paden finished out the scoring in the 74th and 78th minutes, respectively.
North coach Scott Flanders of Lake Stevens joked after the game that the Vikings liked to play from behind all season but it was the seventh score that ultimately proved too hard to overcome for his team Thursday. He was especially impressed with the 3A players that the North 4A teams don’t usually get to play.
“We were just trying to come out and have fun,” Flanders said. “I thought this was an unreal showcase of the soccer in Snohomish County.”
Jon Saperstein writes for the Herald in Everett.
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