By Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

The Tyee Totems shared their goal scoring nicely, distributing five tallies to five different players in a 5-1 Seamount League win over the Evergreen Wolverines at the Valley Ridge turf fields in SeaTac on Thursday.

"They followed the game plan and kept the ball wide," said Trisha Halvorson, the Lady Totems' coach.

The Totems scored first, 10 minutes into the first half, as one of its two captains, senior midfielder Ashley Langley, benefited from the ball bouncing around the middle of the 18-yard box area center up top. And she knew what to do with the round object as it came rolling her way.
"I saw an opportunity and saw the goalie and chipped it over her head," said Langley. "I thought it was not going in at first."

So the Totems led 1-0 fairly soon into this game, but things would settle down with a lot of back-and-forth action after that first score as both teams' defenses held the other teams' offenses at bay.

Only four good shots for the Totems in the first half, and one of those went in, while, for the Lady Wolverines, they only could muster one shot off in the first half.

The Totems' other captain, senior midfielder Chandler Williams, missed a shot just barely 20 minutes into that first half, shooting a shot, far post, high in the air, but wide-left of the goal.

And, also, for the Totems, Langley took another hard shot on goal with 15 minutes left in the first half but the Wolverines' keeper, senior Shaylynn Porter, made a nice save, catching the ball in the air.

Also, for the Totems in the first half, just a couple minutes later, senior left wing Suleida Estrada nearly helped her team score as her cross of a ball into the middle rolled into the 6-yard box perfectly. Williams ran onto it and did get a foot on the ball but Porter saved that shot with her hands. Porter used other body areas to save shots as well, like a a double-knee save, sliding to the ground, as Estrada kicked at the ball for one first-half save.

For the Wolverines, their one shot of the first half was a breakaway try by junior forward Melissa Resendiz, who at midfield in the center, dribbled by the defender marking her. Resendiz did a quick, deft touch of the ball into space ahead of her. Then she ran onto the ball, using her speed, and took it to the 18-yard box for a shot saved by Porter.
At halftime, the Wolverines gave their four senior players cookies.
Those four, who also were said words of praise by different teammates, inculded Yazmin Garnica, Marisol Serrano, Maria Rios and Porter.

The second half started off nicer for the Totems than the Wolverines, scoring-wise, anyway, as they scored 10 minutes into the second half when Langley gave a pass forward on the left side to Estrada, who scored with a nice left foot shot into the far post, right corner.

"She's really stepped up for us, and she's been stepping up for us all season," said Halvorson."We call her Susu.'"

Was that enough to break the will of the Lady Wolverines?
No.

The Wolverines scored just a couple minutes later, in the 53rd minute of the game.

And, mentioning, too, it should be said that Franco let his girls know, at the start of the second half, that he was with them all the way in this game.
"Let's go, ladies," said Franco, early in the second half, shouting out onto the field. "I believe in you."

Resendiz would believe, too, as she would do a carbon copy effort of her first-half breakaway chance that was saved as she got the ball on a breakaway. And, this time, she scored.

"Yeah, it was a good feeling," said Resendiz of scoring her goal. "Wait, can I say the word 'great?'"

And, what kind of thing was different this second breakaway of the game for you? Maybe, 'determination' is the right word.

"I was thinking, I have to go for it," said Resendiz. "I have to get that goal back."

So the game became a lot closer at 2-1 Totems, with still over half of the second half yet to be played.

The Wolverines' coach, Juan Franco, liked the way this goal was scored by his team.

"We recorded a ball from the fullback, Ruth Diaz, in the back, and she cleverly moved the ball to the midfield. And she passed the ball into space at the midfield and Melissa took the ball with her feet and she dribbled with the ball and shot it far post."

So Resendiz's nice shot from just inside the 18-yard box gave herself and her teammates and coach new life.

And, they played hard the second half, not just that goal -- getting eight shots on the Totems' goal.

Serrano said nice words about her team's effort this season.
"Our attitudes are the strongest," said Serrano. "It brings our team together. We never give up."

So, the game stayed 2-1 for the next 10-plus minutes, with both the Totems and Wolverines getting a shot or two each off in that time before the Totems scored in the 64th minute. Off a corner kick by Williams, Elizabeth Santiago was there in the middle to get a touch on the ball, making it a 3-1 score.

Just a couple minutes later, Williams scored, moving the ball inside the 18-yard box, dribbling and depositing a nice shot far post into the right corner of the net, upping the Totems' lead to 4-1.

"I was full of energy, saw my opportunity and took it in," said Williams.

Then, about five minutes later, the Wolverines nearly scored as Leslie Garcia had the ball at the top of the circle at the 18-yard box and she pushed the ball past a group of Totems defenders but was tripped inside the circle. That led to a Wolverines free kick, but the foul likely saved a goal.

"This was one of our best games," said Garcia, a sophomore. "I liked our effort."

The Totems scored one more time.

First, came an assortment of shots from the Wolverines, including two by Garcia, and one shot by Resendiz on-goal was saved by Porter.

The Totems got a few good shots off, too, in this time, from Williams, Espinosa and Langley.

Tyee's fifth and final goal came with about 10 minutes to go in the game as junior midfielder Josephine Martinez finished out the nice sharing job of scoring goals by getting the ball at the penatly box area, 12 yards out, and kicking it at goal. The ball hit off a defender and on the rebound Martinez followed up on the ball and booted in from six yards out to make it 5-1.

For the game, the Wolverines were outshot, 11-9, by the Totems.
What did Langley like about Tyee's efforts?

"The teamwork and the connection with the team," said Langley. "I felt there was a lot of growth."

The Wolverines' coach, Franco, commended his team after the game.
"This was the most beautiful game I have seen you play this year," said Franco. "No matter what happens, you always fight for it."
"I thought they were nice out there. There was a nice girl in back," said the Totems' Williams of the Wolverines' team.

And, that nice girl in back, playing sweeper for the Wolverines, was Diaz. She helped Totems player Estrada to her feet, after what was a hard tackle on Diaz trying to get the ball from her in the first half.
Halverson noted that nice aspect of this game, too.

"Both teams played with good sportsmanship," said Halverson, who is a fourth-year coach for the Totems, saying this is her final season coaching. "And, in the Seamount, everyone in the last couple years has been good, focusing on life lessons and the bigger picture than just playing soccer for winning."