Sehome girls soccer clinched a trip to the 2A state tournament and secured its first 2A District 1 championship since 2011 with a 4-1 win over Cedarcrest on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at Civic Stadium.
Sehome (14-1-3), the top seed in the tournament, came into the game on a six-game win streak and hadn’t allowed a goal in five straight matches. No. 3 Cedarcrest (12-4-1) was on its own seven-game win streak.
The Red Wolves looked to jump out to an early lead on the counter when junior forward Sadie Schaefer found herself open on the back post, but her shot went just wide.
Soon after the miss, junior defensive midfielder Triya Mitchell won the ball at midfield and breezed past multiple defenders before crossing to sophomore midfielder Keira Reeves, who calmly put the Mariners up 1-0 with a right-footed finish in the 14th minute.
In the 18th minute, Cedarcrest goalie and senior captain Joey Ward suffered an injury that forced freshman Sierra Carlson into the game.
Carlson made some impressive saves, but she was no match for the hat-trick hero, Ava Lontine. In the 27th minute, right-back Jane Squires found Lontine in a pocket and she glided through two defenders before slotting the ball in the corner.
Cedarcrest showed signs of life when a ball over the top connected with Schaefer, who refused to miss another chance and brought the deficit to 2-1 in the 29th minute.
With halftime looming, Alena Naviaux won the ball back and played Lontine into space. Lontine muscled off a defender before scoring another first-half goal to put the game at 3-1 in the 37th minute.
“We used our ability to get wide and split the defense in half to get by them,” Lontine said about her first-half brace.
Sehome head coach Emily Webster was very happy with her team in the first half.
“This team works hard for each other and knows how, and when, to turn it on,” she said. “They wanted to come out and play their best today.”
Sehome came out of the break and controlled the pace in the second half. The Mariners’ center-midfield trio of Katie Quinn, Triya Mitchell and Keira Reeves won every ball to keep the Red Wolves on defense.
Cedarcrest’s goalkeeper made save after save to keep the game within reach for her team. After each save and drop kick, the Mariners would win the ball back and go again.
“I think composure is really important in games like this,” Webster said. “The girls were really smart on the ball. They were quick and intentional with their passes.”
Sehome did not give up a single shot in the second half.
Lontine completed her hat trick with a powerful goal from outside the box in the 80th minute to give Sehome the 4-1 win.
Sehome lost in the 2A state championship last season, and Lontine said they are looking to go win it this year. Lontine also said the district championship means a lot to her, and the team feels ready for a deep state tournament run.
Cedarcrest comes back to Civic Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 4 to play a winner-to-state game against another No. 5 Lynden (12-4-3) or No. 4 Archbishop Murphy.
Sehome will await its seed for the 2A state tournament that begins Tuesday, Nov. 7.
