First came the kick, and then came the block.
What followed on a frigid Saturday night at Harry E. Lang Stadium in Lakewood was a historic, long-awaited celebration for the Kentwood High girls soccer team.
The Conquerors’ Madison Fuller delivered the pivotal shootout goal, which deflected off the arm of Tahoma goalkeeper Amber Woolcock to set up the victory. Moments later, Kentwood goalkeeper Courtney Johnson provided a breathtaking diving block, helping the No. 4 Conquerors secure their first-ever Class 4A state title with a 1-0 shootout victory over the third-ranked Bears.
After making the save, Johnson was rushed by the entire Kentwood roster. The mob on the field quickly quadrupled in size as the entire Kentwood student section followed its team onto the turf in celebration.
“Honestly, I love shootouts,” Johnson said moments later while whipping away tears of joy. “I have fun with them. The pressure is on the kicker, not me. So if I come up with a save, it’s huge. Luckily, I came up with three tonight, and it changed the game.
“It got us the state championship.”
But certainly not by much.
In the Bears (20-2-0), the Conquerors (18-3-1) knocked off what has become their biggest – and closest in proximity – rival. Tahoma won its second consecutive South Puget Sound League North Division title and knocked off No. 1 nationally ranked Skyline 1-0 in the semifinals to advance to the championship game.
No doubt, the fact that Saturday night’s showdown led to a shootout – after two five-minute overtime periods – was no surprise. But that didn’t make the loss any easier to swallow, Tahoma’s Woolcock admitted.
“There’s no one I would rather beat more than Skyline and then Kentwood,” she said.
On a dive to her left, Woolcock got an arm on Fuller’s attempt, which had just enough momentum to deflect into the back corner of the net.
“Honestly, we had a piece of paper that had the way the (Kentwood) shooters were going, and I relied on it, and that was my mistake,” Woolcock said.
It was the only mistake Woolcock would make all night.
“I was nervous going up and taking that hit,” Fuller admitted. “I was thinking, ‘It’s just like practice with Courtney in the goal, I am going to make this. When (Woolcock) hit it, I was hoping it was going in because (during the semifinals a night earlier) I hit the post and it went in just barely.”
Kentwood outscored Tahoma 5-4 in the shootout. The Conquerors came into the season with a 0-3 overall record in shootouts. Compounding that number, however, is the fact that in the SPSL teams only play to a tie instead of turning to the tie-breaking format.
During the postseason, Kentwood’s run of bad luck in shootouts did a complete turnaround.
At the district tournament, Kentwood knocked off South Kitsap 2-1 in a shootout to earn its sixth straight state playoff berth. The Conquerors continued that trend in the state semifinals, beating Skyview 2-1 in a shootout.
Then, of course, came the title clincher.
“When we won (against South Kitsap) to put us into state, I thought, ‘OK, maybe our luck is changing. We got our win, so let’s move on,’” said Kentwood coach Aaron Radford.
The Conquerors had little time to move on Saturday night in a physical match that has come to signify the showdown between the two teams. The Bears controlled the tempo in the first half, but were unable take advantage. An aggressive game turned increasingly physical as time ticked down on the clock in the second half. Kentwood lost junior forward Mykala Benjamin to a knee injury and junior defender Sara Bindl to a head injury in the second half. Both injuries came after hard collisions between opponents.
“When players go at it hard wanting to fight over the same ball, there’s always a player who is late … fouls happen,” Radford said. “It’s just the way the game plays out.”
Neither team was able to gain momentum for more than sparse minutes at a time during the second half, much due to tenacious defense on both accounts. Each team managed nine shots on goal during the final 40 minutes of regulation and 10 minutes of overtime.
Johnson made a pair of dazzling diving stops in the final 50 minutes of play. Woolcock matched her Kentwood counterpart step for step.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Tahoma coach Jason Johnson about the loss. “I can’t say enough about (the defense). They’ve done it all year.”
Kentwood ended the season on a 12-game winning streak. Playing Tahoma for the title took a little pressure off, and allowed for some familiarity, Kentwood’s Johnson noted.
“It might have given us a little more confidence because we knew we could beat them,” she said. “But we also knew that they could beat us.”
History would indicate as much.
The Conquerors came into the night with a 5-2-3 advantage over the Bears dating back to 2006. Adding fuel to the rivalry, however, is the fact that Kentwood and Tahoma have combined for the last four SPSL North crowns. In addition, when one finished first, the other traditionally has finished second, except for this fall, when Kentlake took second, one point ahead of the third-place Conquerors.
Despite a host of early season Kentwood injuries that resulted in an uncharacteristic slow start, the Bears were well aware of where the Conquerors were in the standings – and capabilities – throughout the year.
“They had some injuries that they had to deal with, and they dealt with them very well,” Tahoma’s Jason Johnson said. “They didn’t drop many matches. We knew, the way they go … somehow, all of a sudden, they would be back up. I knew (at the end of the year) that they would be there.”
And the Conquerors were.
Picking up the win over a respected rival made it all the more sweet.
“Everybody this season wanted to play Skyline, the No. 1 team (in the nation),” Radford said. “But, you know, I felt relaxed because we knew what we were doing – it’s Tahoma. They’re a great team. As big of a rivalry as it is, it’s sweet to win a state title. It’s very, very nice to do it against a team that you respect, and that you’re going to turn around and face next year.”
MEET THE CHAMPIONS
Below is a look at who made the Class 4A state title possible for the Conquerors:
23 Madison Belmondo
11 Mykala Benjamin
7 Sara Bindl
15 Tori Clark
6 Madison Fuller
13 Andrea Hatfield
3 Miranda Hruby
14 Allyson Irwin
00 Courtney Johnson
16 Emma Knapp
8 Kiana Kraft
2 Mariah Lee
9 Megan McNally
17 Reiney Meyers
10 Sarah Otey
12 Courtney Roller
18 Kelley Sindelar
4 Reilly Retz
21 Trisha White
Megan Charlton
Haley Higgins
Cassidy Meyers
Sterling Peterson
COACH: Aaron Radford
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