It took a lot of mental preparation, a fearless defensive effort, and a little bit of luck, but the Edmonds-Woodway boys soccer team came away with its biggest win of the season Wednesday with a 2-1 upset. I found it. They defeated the Shorewood Stormrays, the No. 1 ranked 3A team in the state.
After allowing a goal to Shorewood's Jackson Smith in the 52nd minute, the Warriors scored two goals of their own in the final 20 minutes of the game to seal the victory at Shoreline Stadium.
EW's first score came from the foot of senior Richard Duncan, who was left alone near the right corner flag in the 60th minute. Duncan fired a shot from a sharp angle that sailed past Shorewood goaltender Atticus Benitz to tie the game at 1-1.
Then, in the 71st minute, the Warriors' Alexander Bryan took a corner kick to the top of the 18-yard box. After a scramble for the ball, junior Alex Plumis took a shot that changed direction at least twice before reaching Shorewood's goal. This score gave EW a lead that the Warriors could not relinquish.
Plumis admitted the winning goal was not a pure outburst.
“Sometimes you get lucky,” he said. “I saw it hit two or three people, maybe three, I don't know. But it passed quickly and that's all that matters.”
Plumis called it “the biggest goal of my high school career.''
Despite a desperate push from the Storm Rays, the Warriors maintained a 2-1 lead until the end of the game. Shorewood's best chance to tie the game late in the game came in the final moments when Smith squared up to the Warriors' goal after a violent collision between forward Natan Gebremrak and EW goalie DJ Karl. Ta. However, his shot was stopped by EW defender Kincaid Sund near the goal line, preserving the victory.
The final minutes were eerily similar to the first 10 minutes of the game, with Shorewood in complete control, possessing the ball and creating multiple scoring chances.
“They had two crosses and two corner kicks,” EW coach Jason Hanson said. “We knew they were going to spread the game out very wide and use the full width of the field. We knew they were going to find the sideline and get crosses in there, so we were prepared for that. Today. Our goalie, DJ, did a great job.”
Carl only saved three Stormley shots inside the goal, but his diving efforts thwarted a number of crosses into the 18-yard box and helped limit Shorewood's attack.
Hanson said he was proud of his team's defensive posture early on, especially considering how much each team was looking forward to the big matchup between the top two teams in the league.
“I talked a lot about the mental aspect of this game because I know the players were really excited,” Hanson said.
“I wanted to remind them that the first 10, 20 minutes of this game are going to be full of emotion,” Hanson added. “And I wanted to protect us from kind of a mental breakdown, loss of adrenaline. We talked a lot about being polite and being there for each other throughout the game.”
After getting through the first 10 minutes, EW began to match Shorewood in offensive pressure. Stormrays goalie Ivan Henadiev was forced to make two diving saves in the first half. The first was in the 25th minute with a shot to the left to stop Sundo's shot, and then in the 40th minute to the right to score 30 points. Plumis Yard Torpedo.
The loss was Shorewood's first, and they are now 11-1-0 in Wesco League play and 12-1-0 overall. Despite the loss, the Storm Rays maintain a three-point advantage over the Warriors in the 2A/3A Wesco League regular season title race (9-0-3 in league play, 10-0-3 overall) minutes).
Hanson acknowledged that the league's regular-season championship may be out of reach for the Warriors, but the No. 1 seed in the 3A District 1 tournament is still up for grabs. And it's not impossible that they will face Shorewood again in the postseason.
“We'll probably play them again in the playoffs,” Hanson said. “And this was just the first of many big games that we have coming up. Next week it's Arlington and Monroe. And we'll finish in Everett. So our job is done. No. This is just one of several steps we would like to take in the future.”
For Plumis, the win against Stormrays was a huge confidence booster.
“We know they are a good team, but we also know our quality,” he said. “Today I showed you that.”
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preparation boys soccer
Edmonds Woodway 2, Shorewood 1
Edmonds-Woodway 0 2 – 2
Shorewood 0 1 – 1
the goal:
– Jackson Smith (Shorewood) 52 minutes (Assisted by Atticus Benitz)
– Richard Duncan (Edmonds Woodway) 60 minutes
– Alex Plumis (Edmonds Woodway) 71 minutes
shot:
– Edmonds-Woodway 9
– Shorewood 10
keep:
– DJ Karl (Edmonds-Woodway) 3
– Ivan Gennadiev (Shorewood, first half) 2
– Kaare Nye (Shorewood, second half) 1
Corner kick:
– Edmonds-Woodway 5
– Shorewood 4
yellow card:
– Finn Dellachapel (Shorewood) 35 minutes
– Andrew Montero (Edmonds Woodway) 72 minutes
Record: Edmonds vs. Woodway 9 wins, 0 losses, 3 draws, 2A/3A Wesco League, 10 wins, 0 losses, overall.Shorewood 11 wins, 1 loss, 0 draws, 2A/3A Wesco League, 12 wins, 1 loss, 0 draws overall
Upcoming games for Edmonds vs. Woodway: vs. Arlington. Monday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Arlington High School.