The high school soccer postseason is a whole new ballgame. Ties no longer get you one point in the standings, like they do during the South Puget Sound League regular season. It’s win or go home.
And, unfortunately, the Todd Beamer Titans boys soccer team had their season ended Saturday by the South Kitsap Wolves in a shootout at the West Central District Tournament.
South Kitsap (11-3-1) was perfect in all four of its shootout attempts on the FieldTurf at Mount Tahoma Stadium in Tacoma, while Beamer (12-4-2) converted just two of its four shots. The shootout helped the Wolves to a 2-1 win and their first berth into the state tournament since 2006.
The Titans were eliminated with the loss after finishing second in the South Puget Sound League South Division.
“It’s a simple math equation,” said South Kitsap coach Michael Krug, referring to strategy in penalty-kick situations. “We worked on it and showed them a couple of things. There’s certain things you can do and you’ll statistically increase your odds of success.”
The match was eerily similar to last year’s game between Beamer and South Kitsap at the West Central District Tournament. But the end result was just the opposite. The Titans ended South Kitsap’s season in 2008 by a score of 2-1 and went on to finish fourth at the state tournament.
Beamer drew first blood during Saturday’s game when Michael Manolides gave the Titans a quick 1-0 lead in the 12th minute on an assist from Dan Tran.
Beamer, thanks to the stellar play of goalkeeper Benjamin Draeger, held the Wolves in check until late in the game despite several good scoring opportunities by South Kitsap, the third seed from the Narrows League.
But with just four minutes remaining in the match, South Kitsap’s Justin Moore was able to break away from defenders and beat Draeger to tie the match at 1-1 in the 76th minute.
The Titans were able to get another shot on goal two minutes later, but the ball was deflected off the foot of a South Kitsap player, sending the game into overtime. In high school playoff soccer two, five-minute overtime periods are played and if the game is still tied, a shootout ensues.
Beamer midfielder Troy Peterson converted the first goal in the shootout and Moore responded for South Kitsap.
Titan sophomore Ugo Okoli followed by missing the goal wide right. Jesse Askew and Dixon Hammer both converted for the Wolves, sandwiched by a successful shot by the Titans’ Austin Sweeney, to give South Kitsap a 3-2 lead in the shootout.
Lathrop then saved a shot by Beamer’s Keaton House and Brent Ricigliano followed with a successful kick to end the shootout and the game.
Central Kitsap 1, Jefferson 0 (Saturday)
The South Puget Sound League champion Thomas Jefferson Raiders had their season ended abruptly Saturday afternoon at the West Central District Tournament by the Central Kitsap Cougars.
The fifth-place team from the Narrows League earned the district’s top seed into the 16-team state tournament with a 1-0 win over the Raiders at Art Crate Field in Graham.
The Central Kistap victory concluded a domination by the Narrows League during the West Central District Tournament. Narrows’ League teams won all five of their matches against SPSL teams. Rogers is the lone SPSL team to advance into the state tournament after beating Curtis at districts.
Central Kitsap’s Miles Nilsen tallied the only goal of the match. The Cougars finished 6-4-1 during the Narrows League regular season.
The loss ends Jefferson’s season with a 12-3-3 record and also snaps a six-game winning streak by the Raiders. Central Kitsap will host Snohomish (14-4-1) in the first round of the Class 4A state tournament Wednesday.
