SOCCER: Decatur bounces back against Kennedy in 2-1 win; Beamer loses first of the year; Dahl scores hat trick for TJ

Things didn't look good for the Decatur girls soccer team entering the postseason.

By Casey Olson • November 2, 2011 4:35 pm

Things didn’t look good for the Decatur girls soccer team entering the postseason.

The Gators would have to beat the Kennedy Catholic Lancers on their home field at Highline Stadium Wednesday night to keep their season going. This was the same Kennedy team that blew the Gators off the field in their season opener by a score of 6-0.

But Decatur was up to the challenge. The Gators (9-7-0) outlasted the Lancers Wednesday in the winner-to-district, loser-out match, 2-1. Decatur junior Abby McFaul continued her late-season scoring push by tallying the game-winner in the 57th minute on a pass from Lexie Gilbert.

“I am very proud of the way the girls played,” said head coach Christy Overby. “This team has faced many obstacles this season and they have continued to battle despite them all. It would have been easy for them to pack things up and call it quits after the first few weeks, but they haven’t. They keep fighting every week.”

McFaul, who was an All-South Puget Sound League 3A forward a season ago, has scored four goals in the Gators’ last three matches. Kennedy took a quick 1-0 lead with a goal in the 21st minute, but Decatur bounced back and tied the game at 1-1 on an unassisted goal from Taylor Meadows two minutes before the halftime whistle.

“Essentially, (I told them) to leave it all out on the field,” Overby said. “We have 80 minutes to prove we want to add 80 more minutes onto our season. We were focused on what the girls could do not on what had happened in the past.”

The Gators now enter the Class 3A West Central/Southwest District Tournament, where they will take on the Capital Cougars at 3 p.m. at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner on Saturday, Nov. 5. The winner will advance as the district’s No. 2 seed into the state tournament, while the loser’s season will be over.

Capital won the 3A division of the Narrows League and, like Kennedy, dominated the Decatur during the regular season. The Cougars (12-1-2) shut out the Gators 3-0 Sept. 13 in Olympia on goals from three different players.

Kentwood 1, Beamer 0 (SPSL Championship)

The Todd Beamer Titans, who were the top-ranked Class 4A team in Washington entering the postseason, will be the second seed from the SPSL. The defending state champion Kentwood Conquerors (13-1-1) handed the Titans their first loss of the season Wedensday, 1-0, in the SPSL Championship game at Sparks Stadium.

Laura Moore scored an unassisted goal seven minutes into the second half and Kentwood made it stand up for the win.

Beamer (12-1-3) will take on the Curtis Vikings at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5 at Art Crate Stadium in Graham in the winner-to-state, loser-out game. Beamer went 1-0-1 against the Vikings this season. The Titans beat Curtis, 3-1, on Sept. 6 and tied, 2-2, on Oct. 4. Curtis is the eighth-seed from the SPSL.

Jefferson 3, Rogers 0

Lindsey Dahl just keeps scoring goals and the Thomas Jefferson girls soccer team keeps getting to play games.

The senior striker tallied yet another hat trick Tuesday night as the Raiders shutout the Rogers Rams, 3-0, in the opening game of the SPSL Tournament. The teams both finished up in fifth-place in their respective divisions of the SPSL and TJ will be the SPSL’s ninth seed into the loser-out, winner-to-state West Central District Tournament.

The Raiders (7-7-3) will now take on the Narrows League-champion Bellarmine Prep team at 4 p.m. at Tacoma’s Stadium Bowl on Saturday, Nov. 5. Bellarmine finished the regular season 13-2-1.

Against Rogers, Dahl scored all three of her goals during an 11-minute span late in the second half. Dahl tallied an unassisted goal in the 60th minute to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead. Dahl followed in the 69th minute when she took a pass from Hannah Friedman and scored. Two minutes later, Chelsa Jensen assisted on Dahl’s third goal of the contest.

The hat trick was Dahl’s eighth multi-goal game of the season and the senior has a grand total of 26 goals in Jefferson’s 17 matches this season. The 26 goals leads the area. Interlake of Bellevue’s Emma Bergstrom has a total of 25 goals.

Tuesday’s win over Rogers was the second-straight TJ game where Dahl has scored all of the goals for the Raiders. In a must-win over Kentlake in their final SPSL North contest on Oct. 28, Dahl finished with four goals during the 4-2 win.

Ashlyn Bruin earned the shutout in goal for the Raiders. It was Bruin’s fifth of the season.