Got a strange...

Seattle Christian School got a strange magic over the highly successful sports school, Kings -- almost miraculously beating the Knights, 3-2, in a shootout.

The Edmonds school dominated most of the game. It was tied, 1-1, after regulation time and two overtimes in a WIAA Dairy Farmers of Washington 1A/B state semifinal soccer game at Curtis High School Friday, Nov. 17.

"We are good at PKs," said Noelle Simpson, who started the Warriors off with a key first goal in the shootout and scored the game-tier. She also scored the game-tier against Bellevue Christian that propelled that game to a shootout two playoff games previously.

"Yeah, we practice them (penalty kicks) almost every practice," said another senior on the team, Erin Walter, who admitted she didn't play much. But her face glowed with that strange magic that all these faces beamed following an unlikely win over a school that outshot them 20-3 for the game.The Warriors' first shot of the second half came at 18:19 when they were already down 1-0 on Kings' goal that came four minutes earlier.

That first SCS shot of the second half went in. Simpson scored it and what a score it was, a beautiful ball from the right wing area near the corner. As the Kings player rushed in at Tianna Homad, she lifted the ball around her somehow, someway, and it sailed almost like an angel was carrying it to the head of Simpson. Boom. Off the frontal lobe and into the near-post past a diving Kings keeper.

When Homad got the ball at her feet way out there, did she think it was coming her way?

"I knew it was coming my way," said Simpson.

Nervous?

"No, not at all," she said. "I saw the ball coming to my eyes, saw it coming straight to my head."

Outplayed, outshot, the Warriors were thoroughly the non-dominators of the 40 minute first and second halves combined. The Kings team outshot the Warriors, 20-3, for the game, 6-1 in the first half and 14-2 in the second.

But the Warriors were game, playing with tons of heart in the second half. Visibly they were not as fast running as the Knights. But what they lacked in speed they made up for with hustle. Kings was also hustling, but that hustle is what was so important for the Warriors to do to keep up with Kings. And that is exactly what their coaches, Kelee Wall and Melissa Bennett, asked of them at the halftime locker room talk.

"We knew the game was going to be won in the middle," said Wall. "We needed to shut their midfield down. The first half was tough. They were putting a lot of pressure on us and I felt some of that was relieved by our hard work in the midfield in the second half."

So Simpson was glad she had the coaches she had and great former coach, Lisa Peterson, was right there in the audience and she can tell you what she thought of this nailbiter.

"Kings has had some amazing shots," she said.

And Kane has had some amazing saves?

"Yes, she has," said Peterson, who coached the Warriors in the early, mid, and even later 90's to the best high streak of no games without a loss from 1992-97. Their coaches, Bennett and Wall, were both players on the latter teams.

Your replacements are doing OK?

"Yes, they are," said Peterson "They are doing just fine."

Huge too was Jessica Kane, who was again brilliant in goal for the Warriors, making two, three saves in the Bellevue Christian shootout win two playoff games earlier, made some more, three this time, to be exact.

"I am glad we had that Bellevue Christian game shootout under out belt," said Wall, notably.

Now, back to Kane, the sensational, Kane, it was Simpson made her PK shot, it was Kings making theirs, 1-1. It was then a miss by the next SCS kicker. That set the stage for momentum to Kings, and they took it, a picture perfect second kicker's shot ducked into the right corner on a bee-bee. Elissa Kane then made it for SCS to tie things up, 2-2.

Then Kane did her thing, which she did all game long, saving 13 shots in the second half, five goal-savers, to note, and seven other first half shots. She saved the next Kings shot, a great dive left, knocking the ball away. SCS made their next, Alison Mitchell scoring to make it 3-2. Kings' next kicker again watched Kane dive right for another super save.

The shootout was an extension of who was no doubt the player of the game, Jessica Kane, and Simpson did make huge things happen offensively, just that header in. But none of it happens, and this game could have been, 4-1, 5-1, even if not for Kane's goalie play greatness out there. And her teammates knew it.

"She is amazing," said Simpson, who, by the way, had zero header goals all season long, but 11 to lead her team in that category. "She's saved our team game after game after game."