Soccer ousted by Kennedy
November 19, 2008
By Ryan Piersol
Two days after scoring a dramatic state playoff win, the Mount Si girls soccer team was eliminated from the postseason with a 2-1 loss to Kennedy Saturday in the Class 3A state quarterfinals.
It was just the third time in school history for the Wildcats to compete in the state quarterfinals.
Top-ranked Kennedy, 20-0-1 overall, got another fantastic effort from forward Rebekah Kurle. She scored unassisted just 16 minutes in to give the Lancers an early 1-0 lead. Mount Si’s Nikki Stanton answered with a score off a penalty kick to tie the game, but Kurle then booted through another goal in the 63rd minute and Kennedy was able to hang on for the win.
The game-winner was Kurle’s 36th goal of the season.
The loss finished Mount Si’s season — which included a league championship — at 10-4-4 overall. It also came after perhaps the most exciting finish of the season in a 2-1 beating of Bonney Lake Nov. 12 in the first round of the state playoffs.
The Wildcats scored two goals in the final nine minutes to snatch the victory away from Bonney Lake.
“That was one of the most dramatic finishes I’ve seen in a long, long time. It was pure adrenaline all the way through,” Mount Si head coach Darren Brown said afterward. “You don’t see that happen very often.”
The Wildcats fell behind 1-0 when Panthers standout Savannah Moorehouse scored an unassisted goal in the 58th minute.
That prompted Brown to move Mount Si star Nikki Stanton up top, and the Wildcat offense went on the attack. After several fast breaks nearly ended in points, Brittany Conway finally put Mount Si on the board with an unassisted goal in the 71st minute to tie it up, 1-1.
The Wildcats didn’t back off from there and, with less than a minute left, Stanton managed to move the ball deep into the Bonney Lake side of the field, just to the right of the goal. The Panthers overplayed that side defensively, and Stanton rifled a pass to a wide-open Conway in front of the goal. Conway was able to then tap the game-winner in.
Of course, the drama still wasn’t finished. With mere seconds left, Moorehouse broke free of the Mount Si defense and had only goal keeper Marika Loudenback standing in the way of a game-tying goal. But Loudenback made a save and the Wildcats stormed the field in celebration.
“I knew that we had to push it at the end,” Conway said. “I thought some girls might think the game was over, so I thought if I picked it up, maybe it would pick the rest of the team up. And it ended up paying off.”
Reach editor Ryan Piersol at editor@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434.
Comments
Got something to say?
Before you comment, please note:
- These comments are moderated.
- Comments should be relevant to the topic at hand and contribute to its discussion.
- Personal attacks and/or excessive profanity will not be tolerated and such comments will not be approved.
- This is not your personal chat room or forum, so please stay on topic.
