Federal Way Memorial Stadium was the site of a trio of soccer games featuring Federal Way and Kent schools on Wednesday. Federal Way, Thomas Jefferson and Todd Beamer pulled off the sweep as they defeated Kentlake, Kentridge and Kent-Meridian.
The crossover games between the South Puget Sound League Northeast and Northwest are important to determine seeding for the district playoffs. The winner of the game between the top teams in each division at the end of the season will earn an automatic spot in the state playoffs.
Jefferson and Beamer entered the day tied atop the SPSL Northwest with identical 2-1-2 records in league play, giving them each eight points in the standings.
The Raiders maintained control for much of the first half, allowing few scoring opportunities for Kentridge.
Meanwhile, Jefferson continued to find space along the outer edges of the field. Many of the chances ended up with through balls going just a bit long or a Kentridge defender challenging at the last possible moment to prevent a scoring chance.
The first point was scored by Jefferson in the 20th minute on a set piece.
Raiders team captain Nick Hall gave himself a running start on a throw-in deep on the Chargers’ end of the field. He found Chris Oh, who had both a height and positional advantage over three defenders. A quick flick of his head sent the ball into the far corner of the net, out of the keeper’s reach.
“I saw my big man in there and it was an easy throw to him,” Hall said. “He got the easy flick on, straight into the goal.
“I only saw the open net; it was all from Nick,” Oh said. “I thought I was going to flick it to someone else, but I guess it went in.”
Jefferson had a few more good looks at the goal in the first half but failed to capitalize. Justin Yoon’s shot from about 25 yards out went just above the crossbar, and a few more set pieces were cleared out before Jefferson players could put a foot to the ball.
The second half started much the same way as the first.
Five minutes in, Jefferson midfielder Jose Ramirez made a run, but his shot went just wide of the net, keeping the game at 1-0.
Shortly thereafter, Kentridge had one of their best scoring opportunities of the day when Brandon Kam found space on the left side of the box and fired off a shot. It got past Jefferson goalkeeper Hunter Bowman but hit the post and bounced harmlessly out of play.
The Chargers turned up the pressure as the end of the second half approached, but they couldn’t break through as the Jefferson defense held on for the 1-0 victory.
“Our goals are coming from set pieces,” said Jefferson head coach David Hanson. “I’ll take them how we can get them. We’re just trying to find that right guy up top, find that mix. I still haven’t found it yet. I got a lot of them, but we’re a team of midfielders.
“Tonight was positive in the sense for us that it wasn’t the prettiest game, but they all fought for each other and didn’t stop. We didn’t fight too hard against Kentwood this week. Show Kentwood respect; they deserved to win for their performance, but we kind of let ourselves down at the same time. So I was proud of them for tonight.”
Beamer completes comeback win
Though the Titans dominated the first 10 minutes of the game with numerous shot opportunities, it was Kent-Meridian who jumped out to an early 1-0 lead just 12 minutes into the first half.
Royals midfielder Melvin Valles fired a long-range shot from just outside the left corner of the penalty area that curved into the opposite side of the net.
The rest of the first half was evenly matched.
Sean Van Earwage found himself in prime scoring position a few times in the half. Some errant shots and strong play by Royals’ keeper Ivan Sanchez kept him from finding the back of the net.
The Titans turned up the pressure in the second half and went on the offensive leading to a few close calls to tie the game.
Ten minutes into the second half, Beamer had its best opportunity to score when Austin Stafford found himself in front of the net with a lot of empty space on the left side. His shot went just wide of the post.
Six minutes later, Stafford redeemed himself as he found a cross just before Sanchez could reach it. He hurdled the keeper as he shot into the vacant net, equalizing the game at 1-1.
“We looked at our first half and we came out flat,” said Beamer head coach Joel Lindberg. “I don’t know if they’re tired from being on spring break, but the second half we decided we gotta take it to them.”
Beamer remained on the offensive for the rest of the game but could not find the net. The teams went into overtime, and the two five-minute halves were not enough to settle the game.
“We just couldn’t finish in the end,” Lindberg said. “We had our chances, but we just couldn’t put it away.”
The teams went to penalty kicks to decide the winner.
Each team’s first shot missed high. Cole Hoefel and Zak Gragg made the next two shots for Beamer.
Aaron Zacapu made the second shot for the Royals, but Axel Navarro missed high, giving Beamer a 2-1 advantage.
Stafford put the Titans up 3-1, but Jose Hernandez kept Kent-Meridian in with a make of his own.
Christian Guzman had the opportunity to end the game by making the fifth try for the Titans, but Sanchez dove to his left to block the shot and keep the Royals’ hopes alive.
It didn’t matter, however, as Binyam Ayele’s potential tying shot went high, giving Beamer the 3-2 win in penalty kicks.
“It feels good [to get the win],” Lindberg said. “We only get two points instead of three, but it feels good to have that practice and experience to do that. We plan on going to playoffs, and that’s good experience for us to have that chance and have a few guys miss and see what that feels like.
“We’re taking steps forward every day. I have high hopes for these guys, and I don’t think we’re playing to our potential yet. It feels like we’re getting there. I’d like to finish top of the league and make a good run at playoffs.”
Other games
The Eagles topped Kentlake in the first game of the day at Federal Way Memorial Stadium, winning 5-2. It’s the second consecutive win for Federal Way after starting the season 0-5-2. Decatur traveled to Tahoma, where they lost 6-0.
All four schools resume action on Tuesday. Beamer will play at Kentlake (2-6-1), Federal Way will play at Tahoma (7-2-0), and Jefferson will play at Kent-Meridian (1-6-1). Decatur will be the lone team playing at home against SPSL Northeast leading Kentwood (7-1-1). All games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Jefferson (4-3-2, 3-1-2) currently leads the SPSL Northwest with 11 points. Beamer (4-1-3, 3-1-2) is currently second in the league with 10 points, while Federal Way (2-5-2, 2-2-2) rounds out the potential playoff seeds in third place with eight points. Mount Rainier (3-4-2, 2-3-1) and Decatur (2-5-1, 2-3-1) are tied for fourth with seven points.
