State soccer roundup: Gig Harbor rallies late, wins penalty shootout to advance to 3A semifinals

Whether it was the players waiting for the referee to blow the final whistle, some mathematical confusion, or simply mental and physical exhaustion from a whirlwind game, it took a minute for the Gig Harbor High School soccer players to realize they had just defeated Edmonds-Woodway, 5-4, in a penalty shootout in the Class 3A state quarterfinals on Saturday at Roy Anderson Field.

“I guess we were all just a little confused,” said Gig Harbor center back Grace Neil, who scored the fifth penalty shot to win the game for the Tides.

“There was a little hesitation but as soon as the ref blew his whistle, it was relief.”

Also making penalty kicks in the shootout were Jaylynn Barton, Ashley Wright, Lily Paulson and Anna Stewart.

Relief, desperation, optimism, anger, pure elation — Gig Harbor’s players must have experienced a myriad of emotions during the up-and-down game that ended 3-3 in regulation.

Edmonds-Woodway got on the board first, when Dara Stotland scored in 13th minute.

Gig Harbor bounced back, when Alyssa Gray earned a penalty kick in the 29th minute and converted from the spot.

But, was it the Warriors who struck first in the second half, when Kyra Hicks got behind the Tides’ back line and finished the goal, putting Edmonds-Woodway up, 2-1.

The game wore on and the outlook was looking bleak for Gig Harbor. Throwing numbers forward in desperation, the Tides finally got their goal in the 78th minute, when Barton got on the end of a cross and headed the goal in.

Then in stoppage time, Gray scored again, putting Gig Harbor ahead, 3-2. The game appeared over, but seconds away from the final whistle, Hicks came through with another goal for the Warriors.

In the span of a few minutes, Gig Harbor went from losing and on the brink of elimination, to tying the game, to going ahead and in perfect position to seal the win, to giving up the equalizing goal in the game’s final seconds.

“There was so much up and down,” Neil said. “Tears, when Alyssa gets down there and scores the goal to put us up one, and then total shock when they scored that last one, and honestly, frustration.”

Even Gig Harbor coach Stephanie Cox, who stays pretty even-keel, fell victim to the game’s emotional roller coaster.

“It was a crazy game,” Cox said. “There were definitely moments of tingles down your body.”

When neither team scored in either of the two five-minute overtime periods, the game headed to a shootout.

Gig Harbor converted all five penalty kicks, and Tides’ goalkeeper Emma Morris came away with one big save — enough for the Tides to come away with the win.

“We were really confident (going into the shootout),” Barton said. “We’ve been really practicing those.

“We know last year (we lost to Bellevue in penalty kicks), so we wanted to make sure that was going to be the deal-breaker because we worked so hard during the game. We wanted to make sure the PKs were going to be something that was automatically ours.”

Now, Gig Harbor is headed to the state semifinals, where the Tides will face Kamiakin at 2 p.m. Friday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup for a chance to play in the championship game.

“I’m glad we have a week to recover,” Cox said. “This game comes at the right time. If that happens again, we know that we can do it. We know we can pull through.

“The confidence you have from winning in penalty kicks is great to have going into those games. I think just recovery, getting everyone back healthy and back to 100 percent for Friday.”

Who knows? Maybe Barton will produce some more magic for the Tides before it’s all said and done.

“I think it just takes what we’ve been doing, a lot of heart, believing in each other,” Barton said. “It really takes everybody. It’s not just one person. It’s just so exciting.”

CLASS 4A

Camas 4, Bellarmine Prep 2: The Papermakers scored four goals in the first half, and their lead was never in doubt in a quarterfinals game at Doc Harris Stadium.

Maddie Kemp scored a pair of goals for Camas on a header in the 12th minute, and a 35-yard strike in the 30th.

Jazzy Paulson (27th minute) and Jenna Efraimson (28th) also had goals in a four-minute scoring spree for the Papermakers.

Lindsay Rudd scored Bellarmine’s only two goals in the second half. She connected on a penalty kick in the 49th minute, and a header off of a free kick by Sam McKiernan in the 74th.

The Lions (12-3-4) were eliminated in the loss.

Issaquah 1, Puyallup 0: Jenna Wisler connected for the lone goal of the match in the 51st minute on a pass from Lea Tucker, eliminating the 4A SPSL champion Vikings (16-2-2) in the quarterfinals.

Issaquah goalkeeper Chloe Lang denied several Puyallup shots to notch the shutout.

CLASS 2A

Columbia River 2, Fife 0: Reagan Griffith scored on a header to break a scoreless tie early in the second half at Kiggins Bowl in Vancouver.

And Ava Greer added an insurance goal late to eliminate the Trojans (19-3-1) in the quarterfinals.

This story was originally published November 10, 2018 at 7:03 PM.