Playoff roundup: 4A SPSL soccer teams strike gold as Sumner, Curtis, Bellarmine, Emerald Ridge, Rogers advance | Tacoma News Tribune

Top performer: Emily Bryant, Curtis

Scored 3 goals in 4-0 win over Thomas Jefferson

CLASS 4A DISTRICT PLAYOFFS

Sumner 2, Tahoma 1 (3-2, SO): The only way this hard-fought match was going to end was in a shoot out.

And the Spartans, after 80 minutes of regulation, then some extra overtime and finally penalty kicks, kept their season alive thanks to Madison Gustafson’s late game-tying goal.

The win means Sumner (12-3-2) advances to face Bellarmine Prep at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.

And for Tahoma, its season ended at 10-4-2.

“I’m proud of my team, we played really well tonight, we shut down a couple of players that are big threats,” Tahoma coach Alyssa Hurt said. “Our defense did a great job communicating and staying with their marks.”

Tahoma struck first in the 62nd minute. Lauren Pearson followed a ball kicked by Carissa McCarthy for the second-half score.

With 10 minutes remaining in regulation, Sam Larberg found Gustafson to tie it.

Curtis 4, Thomas Jefferson 0: The Vikings are moving on in the 4A West Central/Southwest bidistrict playoffs thanks to a stellar night on the field and in the goal.

Emily Bryant scored three of the four goals for Curtis (11-5-1), coming in the sixth, 65th and 72nd minutes, while Grace Collins and Elise Arkills shut out the Raiders.

“The girls are a huge believers in chemistry and momentum,” Curtis coach Frank Hankel said. “We believe in next-player-up mentality and Bryant hasn’t gotten the minutes maybe she could on another team, but she is fantastic on the ball, and has a lot of composure. It was her night.”

The Vikings also relied on midfielders Sydney Williams and Ellie Reardon on containing the Raiders’ top scorer Hailey Still, the standout sophomore who entered the match having scored 29 goals this season with seven assists.

“We had a game plan to contain Still. We have two stellar middles and we wanted to make sure that they knew where Still was,” Hankel said. “I don’t think she had a shot on goal tonight.”

With the win, the Vikings will take on Union at 7 p.m., Thursday at Ingersoll Stadium in Olympia.

Jefferson’s season ends at 10-4-1.

Emerald Ridge 2, Auburn Riverside 1: The Jaguars move forward in the district playoffs after a well-placed throw-in and a critical mistake by the Ravens defense allowed the ball to roll in with two minutes to play.

In the 78th minute of a tie match, the ball was thrown in deep in Auburn Riverside’s territory. The ball bounced off a Ravens defender and rolled into the goal for an own goal in favor of the Jaguars.

“I would say we are fortunate,” Emerald RIdge coach Dan Stueckle said. “Both teams played really well and had the opportunity to score more. The game was being fought outside the boxes. Both teams were shooting from far out and neither team could capitalize.”

Both goals were scored early in the matchup. Auburn Riverside struck first with Kayla Rydberg’s goal in the eighth minute assisted by McKenna Boulet.

The Jaguars (5-8-4) would answer two minutes later with Britney Arneson’s kick from the corner and Kahilu Hoopii was able to knock in the header.

The win advances Emerald Ridge to a matchup against Kennedy Catholic at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at Curtis High School.

Auburn Riverside’s season ends at 8-6-3.

Bellarmine Prep 1, Auburn Mountainview 0: One goal was all that was needed for the Bellarmine Lions to advance over the Lions of Auburn Mountainview.

Bellarmine (11-3-3) will next take on Sumner at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at Sparks Stadium.

AMV’s season ends at 10-6-1.

Rogers 1, Kenlake 0 (7-6 SO): The Rams’ season extended through a wild shootout over the Falcons.

Rogers (5-8-4) will pick play up against Enumclaw at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Curtis High School.

Rogers’ win extended a string of 4A SPSL playoff success. Five 4A SPSL schools entered the loser-out first round and all advanced to play Thursday. 4A SPSL champion Puyallup (12-0-4) received a first-round bye and plays Skyview in a loser-out match at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Sparks Stadium.

Union 1, Kentwood 0 (4-3 SO): The Conquerors’ season ended in a shootout, with the Titans making four penalty-kick goals to Kentwood’s three.

Union’s Chloe Brusseau made what was the game-winning penalty kick. Kentwood’s season ended at 12-3-2.

And Kentwood’s loss marked a run of tough luck for 4A NPSL schools. Seven schools from the 16-team league entered the day fighting for their playoff lives and all lost. The NPSL’s lone two representatives are Cascade division champion Kennedy Catholic, which will face Emerald Ridge in a loser-out match Thursday after a first-round bye, and Olympic division champion Enumclaw, which got a first-round bye and faces Rogers in a loser-out on Thursday.

CLASS 2A DISTRICT PLAYOFFS

White River 4, Port Angeles 1: The Hornets’ four goals were more than enough to keep them undefeated, improve them to 16-0-0 and get them past the Roughriders into a district championship matchup.

And it clinched an automatic state tournament berth, which means White River will reach state for the second consecutive season after losing in the first round against Ridgefield last year.

White River will play North Kitsap in the district title at 7 p.m. Saturday at Franklin Pierce High School.

North Kitsap 2, Orting 1: The Vikings and Cardinals opened their 2A West Central District playoff match with a scoreless first half, and out of the half Katie Harvie put one in the back to give Orting the lead.

However, North Kitsap would soon score twice within a five-minute span to go ahead in the match for good.

“The girls didn’t play together well tonight, it wasn’t our best game,” Orting coach Mike Gastos said. “We still have life in districts though. We’re hoping to come out and have a good practice and iron out the flaws.”

Harvie’s goal was scored almost immediately as the second half whistle blew, with Bella Southwell marching down the field and feeding her teammate.

The Cardinals hope to stay alive in the district playoffs as they will play again at 5 p.m., Thursday, at Franklin Pierce Stadium. That is a loser-out match.

Fife 2, North Mason 1 (4-2 SO): Fife’s offense had trouble, but the Trojans came through in penalty kicks and clinched their seventh consecutive trip to the state tournament.

“They are a very defensive team, they have a great goalkeeper,” Fife coach Tony Crudo said. ”They made it very difficult, we were the attacking team throughout the match. They were packing the back, counter-attacking us through the match.”

This will be Fife’s 10th trip to the 2A state tournament in the past 11 years.

Fife’s goal came in the 63rd minute as Kaya Scott found a way through the strong defense. The Bulldogs’ Sophia Green would answer seven minutes later.

But it was great play from Joscelyn Petrosa and Jordan Kraft that prevented any more goals scored by North Mason. The Trojans would win the shootout, 4-2.

Fife’s next match will be at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Franklin Pierce Stadium for the third or fourth seed out of the district to state.