Curtis soccer hands Sumner first loss of season behind Duah brace and Mose game-winner
Curtis and Sumner’s soccer teams both came into Monday night’s game at Curtis with undefeated records. Unless the game ended in a tie, something had to give.
Tied 2-2 late in the second half, a Curtis corner kick looked dangerous, a header forcing a save from the keeper before bouncing to the feet of Hokulani Mose. The first hit bounced off the defender and right back to her feet. The defender couldn’t get in the way the second time around.
Off balance and falling backward, Mose sent a shot to the top left corner of the goal. It hit the crossbar and bounced in, sealing a 3-2 Curtis win and handing a talented Sumner squad its first loss.
“I just looked at the corner and was just praying it’d go in the corner,” Mose said.
Prayer answered for Mose and the Vikings, who secured a big win to remain undefeated.
“It’s amazing,” Mose said. “It shows us what we’re capable of and makes us feel more of a family, that we accomplished something together.”
The Spartans and Vikings entered the halftime break tied 2-2. Shelby Duah opened the scoring for Curtis in the second minute of the game, before Sumner forward and UW commit Ava Morton tied the game with a strike from nearly 30 yards out.
Mattie Gillaspy gave Sumner a brief lead with a chip shot from the right side of the box, which she sent over the keeper and into the left corner of the goal. But Duah kept putting herself in dangerous spots in front of the net. When the Sumner keeper mishandled a ball in the 27th minute, Duah was right there to pounce on it, tap it in and level the score once again.
“With the bouncing balls, it’s hard to know whether or not to go for it,” Duah said. “You don’t want to like hurt the keeper or anything. I knew that when she dropped it, that was my time to score and be aggressive.”
Curtis features a young roster with just four seniors. So far, youth hasn’t been an issue.
“The connection (we have),” Duah said. “Our team, the teamwork between us, it’s like a family. So it’s easy to connect and work together.”
Curtis faces Bellarmine Prep on the road next at 7 p.m. on Thursday, while Sumner will look to bounce back at home against South Kitsap at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
