Mission accomplished for Stadium.
The Tigers captured the school’s first boys soccer state title with a 1-0 victory over Lake Stevens in the Class 4A championship match on Saturday at Harry E. Lang Stadium in Lakewood.
The sun came out. The fans filled the visitors’ side of the grand stands and erupted in a loud cheer as the final whistle blew.
Coach John Baretta finally got a state title after 22 years of coaching at Stadium. The Tigers’ seniors, 12 of them, finished their high school career with the best possible ending – posing with the state title trophy.
Baretta had issued a challenge to his players before the final. “I told my boys: ‘Do you want to be a good team or a great team?’”
And Stadium (19-1 and ranked No. 8 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America), which as a school hadn’t won any kind of state title since the 1979 girls slowpitch softball team, responded and erased the memories of a bitter quarterfinal loss in last year’s tournament.
“It feels amazing,” senior forward Dylan Gaydosh said. “All the bad feelings are gone.”
Gaydosh, who also won a state title in 2008 with Bellarmine Prep, was one of six starters who missed last year’s quarterfinal when they attended a club tournament in Florida. This year, only one player went.
“Today we clicked,” Gaydosh said. “It was a key moment.”
Gaydosh scored the only goal of the match in the 30th minute when he was in the middle of a goal box scramble and Lake Stevens goalkeeper Tanner Eney attempted to stop Gaydosh.
“I saw the ’keeper come out a little bit, “Gaydosh said, “and I finessed it around him.”
Stadium continued to pressure for another goal, never feeling totally at ease against the Vikings’ tall and physical players.
Lake Stevens had numerous long throw-ins, but Stadium’s defensive four and goalkeeper Ian Clark notched the shutout. Clark had three saves in the fourth consecutive shutout for Stadium during the state tournament.
“The credit goes to our back four,” Baretta said after he had been given a not-so-surprising shower by his players.
A television interview thwarted the players’ first attempt, so they impatiently waited for their chance to soak their coach with water from the water jug.
Baretta’s weary smile indicated that he knew it was coming.
“We did it,” Baretta said. “I’m very, very happy.”
Plus, Baretta had found a lucky penny heads-up as he walked outside Stadium High School while waiting for the bus before the match.
“It’s now going to be put away,” Baretta said.
Along with the state championship trophy, which now belongs to the Tigers.
“We do lose unbelievable players, we lose 12 seniors,” Baretta said. “But that was their goal, and they succeeded, and no one can take this away from them.”
Lake Stevens finished the season at 18-3-1.
Ferris 2, Federal Way 0: A pair of goals five minutes apart in the second half of the third-place game gave the Ferris Saxons (13-7-1) their first state trophy since 2001, when they finished second.
Alec Cutter had a goal and one assist for the Saxons, and Josh Sharon scored the other goal.
Nick Stebbins notched the shutout against the Eagles (12-7-3) who lost their last two matches of the season.
CLASS 3A
Glacier Peak 2, Mount Rainier 1 (OT): The Glacier Peak Grizzlies rallied from a first-half deficit to make school history when junior forward Shane Miller headed in the sudden-death winner during the 88th minute of the Class 3A state championship match against the Mount Rainier Rams.
Glacier Peak (18-5) won the school’s first boys soccer state title, adding to the girls cross country team’s state title in the fall as the only titles for the two-year-old school in Snohomish.
Senior forward Joey Cheff sent a cross into the box, and Miller found himself in the right place at the right time when the ball bounced off a Mount Rainier defender.
“It’s unreal,” Miller said. “It’s the biggest goal of my life.”
The Rams (19-1-2) suffered their first loss of the season and fell short of winning the school’s fifth state title.
“It was a great match,” Mount Rainier coach Jerry Capadanno said. “It was entertaining. It was back and forth, but at least it didn’t go into (a shootout).”
The Rams had the early lead when senior forward Jose Orozco scored in a goal-box scramble during the 36th minute. Glacier Peak evened the score on a 30-yard freekick goal from senior midfielder Brian Holguin in the 49th minute.
Camas 1, Capital 0: Adam Allison scored in the 25th minute to lift the Papermakers (19-1-1) to victory in the third-place match.
Camas goalkeeper Zack Anderson got the shutout.
Capital, which won its first 20 matches, finished 20-2.
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