Beamer soccer falls to Gonzaga Prep in first round of state playoffs

Published 4:56 pm Thursday, November 12, 2015

Todd Beamer’s stay in the girls 4A state soccer tournament was a brief one as they fell to Gonzaga Prep 1-0 in Spokane on Tuesday.

The Bullpups scored the only goal of the game on a 30-yard free kick attempt by Darby Doyle. Though both teams had chances, neither would net another goal in the tightly contested matchup.

For Beamer, the result is not what they expected after their run to make the state playoffs.

After earning a bye for the first round of the district playoffs due to earning the second seed from the South Puget Sound League North, they found themselves facing a familiar foe in Tahoma in the second round.

Both teams quickly had scoring opportunities. Beamer’s Ameera Hussen missed a long shot opportunity as it went wide.

Moments later, the Bears earned a free kick from 26 yards out. Tahoma star player Mia Corbin nearly scored on the attempt, but hit the far post.

Titans’ goalkeeper Courtney Cecil was able to stop Tahoma’s Laura Pierson’s rebound attempt in the chaos that followed. Beamer managed to clear the ball out of the box before things could get worse.

Beamer earned their own free kick on the Bears’ side of the field minutes later. The shot went just over the crossbar, keeping the game scoreless.

Another Hussen shot went just wide halfway through the half when the ball bounced its way after a corner kick.

On the defensive end, Cecil continued to make miraculous diving saves all night.

“She stood on her head tonight,” said Todd Beamer head coach Joel Lindberg. “I’ve never seen her make a one-handed stop like she made on the free kick. She was confident tonight, she owned the back. Awesome job for Courtney.”

In the 32nd minute, Hussen finally broke the scoreless tie with a shot from just outside the box that beat the keeper.

Just four minutes later, Hussen added another Titans goal to give them a 2-0 lead as they went into the half.

The second half was physical with players from both teams earning yellow cards. In the end, neither team found the net again. Beamer qualified for the state playoffs with the 2-0 win.

“This senior group had been building up to this moment,” Lindberg said. “It feels good.”

The win earned them a game against Curtis High School for the first and sixth seeds from the district for the state playoffs.

Beamer came up just short as they fell to the Vikings in penalty kicks on Saturday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.

The Titans built a 2-0 lead in the first half with goals from Makayla Miller and Hussen in the 25th and 37th minutes.

The Vikings responded with goals by Morgan Weaver and Torey Tompkins in the 57th and 72nd minute to force extra time.

The game was decided on penalty kicks. Curtis won the penalty kick shootout 4-2 to claim the No. 1 seed from the district.

Beamer finishes the year with a 16-3-0 record. It was their fourth state appearance ever and first since 2011.