In their third and most important meeting of the season, soccer rivals Bellarmine Prep and Gig Harbor needed added time and finally penalty kicks before the Lions swept the series and earned their way to the 4A girls soccer championship this afternoon at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.
Bellarmine hit its first four PKs before goalkeeper Kiley Adams made the save that sent the Lions through.
“I thought that we could have won the game in the first half,” Bellarmine coach Joe Waters said. “We had more chances. … It was just we gave up one poor goal defensively.”
That came in the 26th minute, when Celia Vaughn found space in the Lions defense to unleash a 25-yard bolt into the upper far corner.
Suddenly playing from behind, Bellarmine tried to answer quickly with several offensive flurries. Poles were hit. Open nets were missed. Saves were made. And one apparent goal was waved off for interference with the goalkeeper. After all that, Gig Harbor’s lead held until less than seven minutes remained.
That’s when the Tides conceded a corner kick, which Stephanie Hamilton launched toward the goal where Kaylee Kebba knocked it in.
“We just needed to be one person to calm down and stick it in for us,” Waters said. “And a freshman turned out to be the one to do it.”
Ten minutes of added time elapsed without a score before the Lions won with a 4-2 advantage on penalty kicks.
“They laid it all out on the line,” Gig Harbor coach Dani States said. “… We’ve played each other so much in the Narrows League, and I have to say by far that this is the MVP game that these two teams have ever had.”
Bellarmine will meet Skyline for the 4A championship at 4 p.m. today. Gig Harbor will face Tahoma in the consolation match at noon.
Skyline 1, Tahoma 0: After controlling everything but the scoreboard for 72 minutes, Skyline broke through with eight minutes left to take a 1-0 win over Tahoma in their girls 4A semifinal match.
“It’s not one kid we rely on,” Skyline coach Don Braman said. “… When you see your teammate go down, you have to step up, and that’s what we saw.”
Braman was referring to a lower right leg injury suffered by defender Jackie Wilson early in the second half. The game was stopped as Wilson lay on the turf for several minutes before leaving on a cart and being taken to a nearby hospital. The severity of her injury wasn’t immediately known, but Braman said he can’t imagine her being available for the championship match today.
Most of the semifinal was played on Skyline’s attacking end. Finally in the 72nd minute, Brooke Bofto took a ball from teammate Sydne Tingey and willed it across the line – saying later she wasn’t sure if it was with her head or shoulder.
“It was the last minutes and one of my best friends – Jackie – went down,” Bofto said. “That was the only thing that was going through my mind. And all I could say was ‘Do this for Jackie; win this for Jackie.’ ”
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