Issaquah girls soccer wins first state title since 2007
Billed as a mismatch, Issaquah had to battle back to win a 2-1 stunner over West Valley in the 4A title game, the Eagles first state championship since 2007.
“We were becoming the 95’ Mariners,” Issaquah head coach Tom Bunnell said of the significance of winning this title. “We had to get it off our back. We have one in 4A now and three others got away from us. Maybe we can get a couple more with this group because they’re pretty special.”
Also a rematch of the 2004 3A state championship game in which Issaquah won 1-0, the Eagles found their winning goal on Saturday in added time of the second half off of a header from Madison Phan.
Phan, the senior defender, was on the back of the goal box for the service from sophomore Claudia Longo and buried the uncontested header to the near post, leaving West Valley goalkeeper Jada Stevenson no chance to deflect it.
“It’s actually the best moment of my life,” Phan said. “No doubt about it. Our seniors knew we had to come out and be selfless, yet tenacious, ... because it was going to be our last game and might as well leave all of it on the field.”
Despite the Eagles’ dominance in shots (19 to 2), they surprisingly came into halftime down 0-1 following a Kendra Hanses goal for West Valley in the 33rd minute.
“At first we were worried, but once we got into half, we had a very good pep talk from coach Tom and also from our captains,” Phan said. “We had these same situations in the past, so we knew how to capitalize on that and by the time we hit second half, we weren’t scared and knew we were going to get a goal no matter what.”
The Eagles rallied and found their equalizer in the 56th minute when Longo hit a 30-yard free kick, which just cleared the defensive wall, going in just below the crossbar in the middle of the goal.
West Valley did give Issaquah some fits, as the Rams played a box 4-4-2 formation that is uncommon in the high school game and was the first time the Eagles have seen it this season.
SEATTLE PREP WINS 3A
In the 3A championship game, Sophie Hirst found the game winner for Seattle Prep in the 51st minute over the Southridge Suns to seal a 1-0 victory. This was the first title for Prep since their back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011.
Despite the close score, the Panthers dominated possession of the ball and the scoring opportunities with 15 shots on goal to 3 for Southridge.
In defeat, Emma Schutt and Kendall Pope were noticeably strong for the Suns in the defensive third, forcing Prep into difficult scoring opportunities.
CONSOLATION FINALS
In the Class 4A consolation final, Camas overcame a tough loss to Issaquah in the semifinals to knock off Gonzaga Prep in a one sided affair, 2-0, to take third place.
In Class 3A, Edmonds-Woodway, rebounded from its semifinal loss to Seattle Prep with a 2-0 victory over Arlington to win third place, despite the Eagles controlling the majority of the contest.
This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 10:27 PM with the headline "Issaquah girls soccer wins first state title since 2007."