Judging from the dejected looks on the faces of the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors, you might have thought the team had just suffered a tough road loss to the Shorecrest Scots on Saturday.

In reality, the Warriors and the Scots saw their key early-season clash end in a 0-0 scoreless draw at Shoreline Stadium. 

The tie earned both teams a point in the 2A/3A Wesco League standings, but it was obvious that E-W wanted more out of Saturday’s matchup.

“All the long faces tells me that they’re in the right mindset,” said Warriors’ Coach Jason Hanson. “They don’t want to tie, they’re here to win.”

The Warriors and the Scots finished 1-2 in the league table last year with E-W taking the league title and Shorecrest placing second. Both squads are expected to challenge for this year’s league championship in addition to Shorewood, Archbishop Murphy and Monroe.

Saturday’s match between E-W and Shorecrest (1-0-1 in 2A/3A Wesco League play, 1-1-1 overall) featured solid midfield and defensive play with only a few opportunities to put the ball into the net. The Scots’ best scoring opportunity came in the 53rd minute when, off a scramble in the 18-yard box, Wyatt Kimball fired a low shot that Warrior defender Alexander Bryan blocked at the goal line.

E-W (1-0-1 in 2A/3A Wesco League play, 2-0-1 overall) had a few chances to score in the final minutes of regulation. The team’s best opportunity came in the game’s 80th minute when Kincaid Sund’s header off a corner kick arced just over the crossbar, missing a goal by inches.

“I thought I could get over it — I just got slightly under it (and it) just barely missed,” Sund said of his possible game-winner in the final minute of regulation time. “That one was a bummer. I thought it was going in.”

The Warriors had entered Saturday’s match after beginning the 2024 season with a pair of victories — and scoring a trio of goals in each of the wins. The team would have settled for just one goal against the Scots but strong play by the Shorecrest goalkeeper Eddie Gonzalez-Canal helped prevent that from happening.

“Kudos to their goalie; their goalie was outstanding,” Hanson said. “Really, I think he was the star of the game for Shorecrest.”

The E-W defense earned their second straight shutout this year; the only goal the Warriors have yielded in their three games has been off a penalty kick to Redmond in the season opener.

Even with the strong start this year, Sund believes he and his Warrior defensive teammates are still in the process of ironing out assignments and learning to play as a unit.

“I feel like our back line is trying to adjust here early on,” said Sund, who helps anchor the E-W defensive line. “We’re a little worried about numbers because we lost one of our best center backs (Antony Cesar to graduation) from last year. But I feel like it’s been going good.”

Cesar isn’t the only one to graduate from the Warrior squad that finished fourth in the WIAA State 3A boys soccer tournament last season. Nearly half of this year’s team is new to the varsity roster. But Hanson isn’t fretting the changes that much because of the makeup of this year’s senior class and what they meant to last year’s team success.

“They really provided a lot of leadership for us last year, so I was really excited to let them take the reins of the team,” Hanson said of this year’s Warrior seniors. “And they’re proving it; they’re awesome. They’re all winners.”

Sund, one of 10 seniors on the team, has been impressed with this year’s juniors and sophomores, many of whom moved up from last season’s junior varsity squad.

“We’ve had a good number of people stepping up,” Sund noted. “A lot of the juniors and JV boys are playing really well, proving themselves. And that’s been really good for us.”

While a trip back to the 3A state tournament would be a rewarding end for this year’s Warrior squad, team goals start with repeating as the 2A/3A Wesco League champion.

“We won Wesco last year and that’s our intention this year,” Hanson concluded. “These tough games against — kind of — our rivals, Shorecrest (and) Shorewood, they take everything out of you. But it’s fun; it’s fun to compete.”

“We hope to be at the top at the end,” Hanson added.

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Prep Boys Soccer: Edmonds-Woodway at Shorecrest, Mar. 16

Edmonds-Woodway 0 0 0 – 0

Shorecrest 0 0 0 – 0

Goal scorers:

– none

Shots:

– Edmonds-Woodway: 10

– Shorecrest: 7

Corner kicks:

– Edmonds-Woodway: 4

– Shorecrest: 6

Yellow cards:

– Abdul Alhaj Munsa (Edmonds-Woodway) in the 40th minute

Records: Edmonds-Woodway 1-0-1 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 2-0-1 overall; Shorecrest 1-0-1 in 2A/3A Wesco League, 1-1-1 overall

Edmonds-Woodway next game: versus Marysville-Pilchuck; Tuesday, March 19; 7:30 p.m. at Edmonds Stadium

–– Story and photos by Doug Petrowski