Wildcats rally for 2-1 victory

EVERETT — Archbishop Murphy’s scoring drought has come to an end.

And it couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Wildcats overcame a 1-0 deficit, scoring a pair of goals in the second half to beat Cedarcrest 2-1 in an April 18 Cascade Conference boys soccer game at Archbishop Murphy High School.

Senior Justin Ryan assisted on both goals as Archbishop Murphy’s offense finally broke through in the scoring column after being shut out in the previous three league contests — two losses and one tie.

The Wildcats appeared headed for their third straight loss when the Red Wolves took a 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal by Francisco Arechiga at the 60-minute mark.

But Archbishop Murphy tied the score five minutes later when Ryan crossed the ball in front of the goal to senior Tyler Hayter, who punched the ball into the net. Then with about a minute left in the game Ryan found senior Kevin Mayerchak in front of the goal.

“Justin had a beautiful flick to me,” Mayerchak said. “I saw the goalie come out, so I just volleyed it over his head. It was nice play.”

The victory snapped a two-game losing skid and evened the Wildcats’ record to 2-2-1 in the league and 6-2-1 overall.

Archbishop Murphy came into Tuesday’s game with back-to-back losses to Lakewood (2-0) and Sultan (1-0). The Wildcats also played to a scoreless tie with South Whidbey.

“I think (we) really deserved that win,” Archbishop Murphy coach Jon Echols said. “We’ve had some tough luck the past couple of weeks. I told them they came out and didn’t get down when the other team scored. They kept playing hard and finally we were able to score some goals in league.”

Archbishop Murphy didn’t do anything different in Tuesday night’s game than what it’s been doing all along, Echols said.

This time the Wildcats were able to finish.

“It was good to get some goals this game,” Mayerchak said. “Everyone just seemed to be ready to play today. It’s no fun not scoring any goals in a couple of games. We were all pumped. We wanted to win a game.”

Mayerchak showed a little finesse in tipping the ball over the goalkeeper and in the first goal Ryan attacked the box like he should have and got to the end line, Echols said.

“Before we were getting those crosses but we weren’t able to put them in,” he added. “We’re so focused on hitting the SportsCenter highlight goal. The easy goal is the one that we need.”

Echols described Ryan as the team’s set-up man on offense.

“He’s the guy who can make good passes when he needs to,” Echols said. “He can control the midfield. He’s kind of an all-around player – nothing flashy. He just gets the job done.”

In fact, Echols viewed Archbishop Murphy’s victory as a workmanlike effort.

“It was almost like a team that didn’t get too emotionally up or too emotionally down,” he said. “We just came out and were steady, steady, steady.”

Goalkeeper Jeff Renslo also came out with a key save late in the game to help preserve the victory.

Renslo is only a sophomore but is gaining experience every game.

“He’s been playing solid,” Echols said.

Echols wasn’t surprised his team rallied for the victory. The senior-dominated Wildcats are a team that keeps battling to the end.

“We haven’t given up,” Echols said. “It’s just a matter of whether we get the goals or not. Today they went in. When you get scored on you fight back. That’s what we wanted.”