4A Girls Soccer | Eastlake seeking perfect ending
SAMMAMISH - It’s a postgame chant the Eastlake girls soccer team hopes repeat a couple of times next weekend.
“Undefeated!” the 17-0 Wolves hollered as they clustered together on their home turf moments after clinching a 2-1 Class 4A quarterfinal victory over Bellarmine Prep Saturday night. “Undefeated!”
Seniors Molly Hill and Emily Hurd scored first-half goals and junior goalkeeper Shelby Nilsen kept Bellarmine Prep (16-4-2) scoreless in the second half, enabling Eastlake to advance to the state semifinals for the second straight year.
The Wolves meet Richland Friday at 6 p.m. at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood.
Hill scored in the fifth minute, skipping a ground shot that bounced off the right post, skimmed underneath a diving Bellarmine Prep keeper Ciarra Pederson, then bounced off the left post, pinball style, into the net.
“My coach has been telling me to try and shoot more,” said Hill, who has six goals this season. “I’m kind of the one who gets assists. So I just saw the gap and went for it. Luckily, it went off the post and went in.”
Hurd scored in the 20th minute on a screamer from 15 yards that snuck past Pederson just inside the far post. Jen Hunter connected from 10 yards out for the Lions in the 36th minute only moments after hitting the crossbar on a previous attempt.
Two Eastlake players had to be assisted off the field in the second half with injuries: Allyson Kilroy (knee) and Allie Beahan (ankle). Beahan left the sideline on a stretcher before the game ended. Coach Chuck Krieble said he was perhaps more concerned about Kilroy’s injury, though he was uncertain of either’s status.
Krieble said his players came into the match prepared to make adjustments on the fly.
“We anticipated teams that would compete for every ball, what we would do if we gave up a goal [Eastlake has 11 shutouts this season], or if we had players hurt, and all those things happened tonight,” he said. “So we were mentally prepared for the game.
“We eliminated them from state last year in the same round. No doubt they had a little bit of revenge on their minds,” Krieble said. “The tackles were hard. There wasn’t anything unfair.”
Last year the Wolves lost in the semifinals. What are the chances Eastlake will be chanting “Undefeated!” next weekend?
“I have a lot of faith in my team,” Hurd said. “I hope we can pull it out this year and be No. 1 and not No. 3.”
Other game
At Richland 2, Redmond 0
The Mustangs (10-6-4), making their first trip to state since 2004, were sent home with a quarterfinal loss to the Bombers (18-3). It was the second trip to Eastern Washington in five days for Redmond, which beat Mead 2-1 in Spokane in a first-round match on Tuesday.