Frightful things can happen in the corners of soccer fields – a place where the action can get down and dirty.
Early in the second half, Sumner High forward Kaylie Rozell trapped the ball in the left corner near the Archbishop Murphy goal.
She stopped the ball. She waited. She might have even said something to the Wildcats’ defender who frantically tried to take the ball away from her.
Most important, Rozell got the thing she wanted most – a corner kick.
And it was a key maneuver because midfielder Alyssa Murray curled in a cross that went inside the far post for the match’s lone goal in the 47th minute, and the No. 1 Spartans held on for a 1-0 girls quarterfinal victory over the two-time Class 2A champions from Mill Creek at Sunset Chev Stadium.
The victory avenged the Spartans’ 1-0 loss to the Wildcats at this same juncture a season ago. Sumner (18-0) advances to the state semifinals for the first time in school history.
“We wanted to get a goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half,” Sumner coach Robi Turley said, “and work our butts off from there.”
The Wildcats probably outplayed Sumner in the first half, so Turley made an adjustment by bringing midfielder Brooke Lancaster up to create more pressure. The move worked as the Spartans had three shots in the first 10 minutes.
The winner was set up by Rozell’s ploy – one she said had only a solitary purpose behind it as she played keep-away in the corner.
“I was trying to get the foul,” she said, “or the corner (kick).”
Murray finished it off by bending the approach just inside the right post for the 1-0 lead.
Yet, this match had a controversial moment late.
Down the left side, Wildcats’ forward Shelby Koch lined a shot on goal that Sumner goalkeeper Jamie Lange reached over her head to snare. Archbishop Murphy players protested that the ball crossed the line. The referee said otherwise.
“The goalie was off her line, so she reached back into the goal and pulled it out,” Archbishop Murphy coach Mike Bartley said. “They didn’t call it.”
CLASS 4A
Skyline 1, at Puyallup 0: The defending 4A champions finally broke through in the 74th minute, when forward Amanda Johnston’s cross went past a pack of players in the Puyallup penalty box, and right to forward Anna Deweirdt, who scored the winning goal at Sparks Stadium.
Puyallup (15-3), the SPSL South champion, had just one shot off – by Justine Ibarra in the first half. The Spartans (15-1) outshot the Vikings, 12-1. Skyline reached the 4A semifinals for the fifth consecutive season.
CLASS 3A
Liberty 3, at Bonney Lake 1: The Patriots – the three-time reigning KingCo3A champions and defending 3A runners-up – put on a clinic in eliminating the Panthers at Sunset Chev Stadium.
Kiana Hafferty scored in the 21st and 62 minutes, and Liberty (15-3) outshot Bonney Lake, 20-6.
“If we play the best we can, this is what happens usually,” Hafferty said.
Shot after shot whizzed in the direction of Bonney Lake goalkeeper Sydney Bennett, who did make seven saves.
The Panthers (13-5) did not get off their first shot until the 32nd minute, but they made it count when Andrew Bowman’s free kick from 25 yards out just landed below the crossbar for a goal to cut it to 2-1.
“I thought we had a better attack in the second half – but no results,” Bonney Lake coach Luke Helling-Christy said. “(The Patriots) were tremendous.”
CLASS 1B/2B BOYS
At St. George’s 5, Tacoma Baptist 1: In a rematch of the 2008 state title game, the Crusaders were eliminated on a snowy field at Whitworth University in Spokane. Austin Lutterloh scored Tacoma Baptist’s lone goal off a corner kick in the 22nd minute.
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