Prep girls soccer: Scots edge Warriors 2-1 in OT

While soccer goals measure 24 feet across and 8 feet in height, the posts that define the goal mouth are themselves just 4 to 5 inches in diameter. Thought small in comparison to the actual goal, those posts can sometimes play a big role in the outcome of a match, as the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors learned Tuesday.

Both the Warriors and their Wesco League opponent, the Shorecrest Scots, banged numerous shots off the goal posts in their matchup on Tuesday, but Shorecrest had one of those post hits end up in the goal. The fortunate carom gave the Scots a 2-1 overtime victory over E-W in a match played at Shoreline Stadium.

With the game ending 1-1 in regulation, the “golden goal” sudden-victory overtime period began with a Shorecrest kickoff. It ended one minute later when Scot senior Bria Metcalf-Lindenburger had the ball bounce off her body after hitting the goal crossbar. The ball then squirted into the E-W goal and the Scots had their OT win.

Metcalf-Lindenburger was in the E-W 6-yard box as teammate Pip Watkinson crossed a ball toward the goal from near the right sideline. The pass was initially headed by the Scots’ Ezzie Fogg and the senior’s shot rebounded off the crossbar back out in front of the Warrior goal. E-W keeper Alice Everett was able to get one hand on the ball but was unable to secure it; the ball ended up hitting Metcalf-Lindenburger (and possibly an E-W defender or two), then slipped into the goal netting for the score.

Edmonds-Woodway Coach Kim Plumis placed no blame on her goalkeeper for the Shorecrest winning goal. “That’s a hard one, when it comes off the top of the crossbar and (with) all the bodies in front of you,” Plumis said. “It’s unfortunate that the ball spun off the way it did.”

Shorecrest’s quick overtime winner ended a game that saw both teams go scoreless in the first half and pick up singular goals in the second.

Watkinson, a freshman forward on the Shorecrest squad, scored just three minutes after the halftime break after she split the E-W defensive back pairing of Jane Miceli and Kate Baldock, raced toward the goal with the ball and slipped a shot past Everett for the score.

E-W answered just seven minutes later when sophomore Aki Ikegami — who came off the bench just three minutes previously — scored from inside the 18-yard box to cap off a lightning-fast Warrior counterattack.

Ikegami had started this year on the Warrior JV squad but was moved up to the varsity team due to some E-W injuries.

“She’s very dynamic and she’s super awesome on the ball and she gets herself into good places,” Plumis said of Ikegami. “She’s already made a difference, obviously. So that’s really exciting for her.”

Ikegami’s second-half tally came after a first half that saw numerous chances for E-W goals go unrewarded. In the ninth minute, the Warriors’ Vivianna Adkins saw her 20-yard blast get pushed aside by Scots’ goalkeeper Kylee MItchell and E-W’s Abby Peterson had her 15-yard low screamer get blocked by the Scots’ Kai Johnson at the goal line.

Then Edmonds-Woodway had a pair of shots go off the crossbar; a 30-yard looper by Peterson in the 32nd minute and a 15-yard missile by Jane Hanson in the 33rd minute.

Plumis felt as though the outcome of the match could have gone E-W’s way if any of those first-half opportunities had found their way into the goal netting.

“We’re playing good soccer right now,” Plumis said. “I think we need to finish some of those early ones. We had some really good opportunities and if you leave it (scoreless) that long sometimes things don’t go your way. So we’ve got to finish early.”

Despite the overtime loss on Tuesday, Plumis still likes her team’s chances for success as the postseason District 1 tournament quickly approaches. The Warriors (6-5-0 in 2A/3A Wesco League play, 10-5 overall) have one more match remaining on their regular season schedule — an Oct. 28 date with rival Meadowdale — and then will begin the district tournament, most likely with a home match on Oct. 31.

“We’ve won seven out of (our last) nine games so we’re still looking good going into the postseason,” Plumis noted. “We have high goals to achieve; we believe in ourselves.”

Prep Girls Soccer: Edmonds-Woodway at Shorecrest, Oct. 22

Edmonds-Woodway 0 1 0 – 1
Shorecrest 0 1 1 – 2

Goal scorers:
– Pip Watkinson (Shorecrest) in the 44th minute
– Aki Ikegami (Edmonds-Woodway) in the 50th minute
– Bria Metcalf-Lindenburger (Shorecrest) in the 81st minute (1st minute of overtime)

Shots:
– Edmonds-Woodway, 7
– Shorecrest, 13

Saves:
– Alice Everett (Edmonds-Woodway), 5
– Kylee Mitchell (Shorecrest), 3

Corner kicks:
– Edmonds-Woodway, 5
– Shorecrest, 6

Yellow cards:
– none

Records: Edmonds-Woodway 6-5-0 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 10-5-0 overall; Shorecrest 6-3-1 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 9-3-2 overall

Edmonds-Woodway next match: versus Meadowdale; Monday, Oct. 28; 7:30 p.m. at Edmonds Stadium

Shorecrest next match: versus Meadowdale; Thursday, Oct. 24; 7:30 p.m. at Edmonds Stadium

— Story and photos by Doug Petrowski