The Kentwood High boys soccer team bounced back from its lone loss of the season in a big way Saturday afternoon.
Behind goals from Stefan Bangsund and Cody Crook along with another rock-solid defensive performance, the Conquerors turned back Federal Way 2-0 in a winner-to-state West Central/Southwest 4A Bi-District game at Art Crate Stadium in Graham.
The Conquerors (14-1-3) were coming off a 1-0 loss to seventh-ranked Beamer in the South Puget Sound League championship just days earlier. With the win, Kentwood will advance to the state tournament for the first time since 2008, and the third time since 2002.
The Conquerors will open the state tournament Tuesday at French Field against top-ranked Jackson (16-2) of Mill Creek. Jackson was upset by Mariner in the District 1 championship match.
Bangsund gave the Conquerors all they would need with a goal in the 35th minute on an assist from Eli Peterson. Cody Crook delivered an insurance goal by finding the back of the net in the 35th minute.
It was Kentwood’s 10th win in their last 11 games. During that stretch of games, Kentwood allowed a total of three goals.
In the win over Federal Way, Kentwood goalkeeper Chris Kubeja, in his first year on varsity, continued to provide steady play in goal. Kubeja recorded his seventh shutout of the season in the win.
The Kentwood defense was nearly as good just days earlier in its 1-0 loss to Beamer, but was unable to gain any momentum throughout the championship contest.
“Beamer is aggressive, talented and puts pressure on you,” said Kentwood coach Aaron Radford. “They just push the speed of play. Throw-ins are quick, dead balls are quick … it can wear you down. We had a couple respectable shots, but they were from far range.”
Against Federal Way, the Conquerors received better looks on goal.
Bangsund’s tally was his team-leading 11th of the season while Crook collected his fourth goal of the year.
Kentridge eliminated
Despite enjoying one of the strongest runs to end the season of any team in the South Puget Sound League North Division, Kentridge was bumped out of the playoffs Saturday after falling to Bellarmine Prep 2-0 in a winner-to-state West Central/Southwest 4A Bi-District at Mount Tahoma High.
The Chargers (7-7-4) were trying to advance to state for the first time since 2004.
After a tough stretch of games to start the season, Kentridge found its groove at the midway point and posted a 7-2-2 record in the 11 games leading up to the loss to Bellarmine Prep. The hot run of play helped the Chargers grab the fifth-and-final seed to the SPSL playoffs.
The turnaround was the high point of the team’s season, coach Glenn Walrond said.
“It was great,” he said. “I coached them up on the mental side of the game, which was the biggest thing. They were finally playing with confidence.”
The Chargers posted a 4-0 record in their final four regular-season games to earn a playoff berth. Kentridge continued that momentum late last week by knocking off Rogers 2-1 in a shootout in the SPSL tournament.
Walrond wasn’t surprised by Kentridge’s dramatic turnaround.
“Yes I did it (coming),” he said. “I told the guys that after our 0-4-2 start that we could win eight in a row. I really believed we could do that.”
Sam Piehler’s goal in the shootout pushed the Chargers over the top against Rogers, sending them into the winner-to-state showdown against highly touted Bellarmine Prep. It was Piehler’s team-leading seventh goal of the season.
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