It was a lethal bolt of late fall lightning that disintegrated the dreams of a local soccer team in its quest to ascend to the throne on Saturday, Nov. 22, in the dwindling daylight of Sunset Chev Stadium.

After 90 minutes of soccer and four rounds of a shoot out, midfielder Julia Kennedy booted the ball into the right corner of the net to give the LaSalle Lightning of Union Gap a 1-0 victory against Evergreen Lutheran of Des Moines for the 2008 WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington/Les Schwab Tires Class 2B/1B state girls championship crown.

Moments earlier, with the shootout score tied 3-3, Lightning goalkeeper Chelsea Adkins had staggered Evergreen Lutheran with her second shoot out save.

Katelyn Weber of the Eagles appeared to present Evergreen Lutheran (10-5-4) with a 4-3 advantage when her shot went just inside the right post.

La Salle goalkeeper Chelsea Adkins anticipated correctly and deflected the shot off the post and the ball recoiled harmlessly into the field of play.

“I trusted my instinct, got off my left foot and prayed to God,” recalled a relieved Adkins.

La Salle was Class 1A runner-up the past three years before dropping to 2B this year while Evergreen Lutheran excelled in its initial state playoff soccer appearance.

Earlier in the shootout, both teams scored in the opening round, with Grace Bender of Evergreen Lutheran opening and Savannah Bonny replying for La Salle. Adkins then made a save on Lindsay Sandwith’s shot before Stephanie Wytko shot high for the Lightning. Megan Valerio and Kailey Fuegmann of the Eagles matched tallies with Ally Hernandez and Katie Vickers before Adkins and Kennedy stood tall for La Salle.

“Both teams played really well,” observed senior Eagle midfielder Grace Bender. “Both teams wanted it. We were so close. Second place is the best our school has ever done. Our defense is young and we succeeded this year because we tried to beat our opponents to the ball.”

From the outset, the SeaTac B League Eagles met an unrelenting opponent. La Salle’s Lightning continually besieged the battleground where the Evergreen Lutheran players bravely defended their citadel with five to seven marking menaces. The Lightning (18-1) unleashed lightning strike after lightning strike to no avail against the grimly determined Eagles despite well-planned and consistent passing. Once the Lightning drew near the Eagles’ nest, it drew myriads of defensive stoppers.

“We came here knowing it would be hard,” stated Grace Lorette. “We did a good job sticking with La Salle. The season was amazing. With girls who’ve never played soccer before, we’ve come a long way. After the first Bear Creek game, we started coming together. We peaked at the right time.”

With its hands full defending, Evergreen Lutheran unloaded few strafing runs of its own. In the teeth of the Lightning pressure, the Eagles did well to fend off their persistent adversaries with great resolve and an iron clad defense.

The Lightning missed numerous second half chances, hitting a post in the 68th minute and shooting over the cross bar on a penalty kick in the first minute of overtime No. 1.

Eagle goalkeeper Lindsay Sandwith, returning from a season-ending knee injury last season, excelled in goal, including three point-blank saves in the second half and the two five-minute overtime periods.

“A year ago, she was on the sidelines with a right side ACL,” recalled Eagle head coach Stan Cole about Sandwith. “Give her all the credit.”

Cole also praised a pair of defensive stalwarts.

“Megume Poetter is an awesome sweeper,” he continued as he had a frosted cupcake smacked into his face in honor of the historic season. “She was just awesome. She saved us quite a few times. Stopper Addy Addleman was a monster all over the backfield. I thought we had some good shots, but we needed cross passes earlier. We always prepared for penalty kicks and this was our first shootout of the year.”

Players for the 2008 Washington state Class 2B/1B girls soccer second place team are Taylor Swanson, Megume Poetter, Ruth Nitz, Kailey Fuegmann, Soo Lee, Katelyn Webber, Megan Valerio, Grace Bender, Ally Addleman, Susie Kim, Kathleen Domer, Grace Lorette, Danielle Thurow, Kelsey D’Andrade, Ashlea Parkinson, Dasom Lee and Lindsay Sandwith.

Head coach Cole is assisted by Tony Natalie.

Evergreen Lutheran also displayed high academic achievement by earning the state Scholastic Achievement Award for the highest grade point average. The Eagles studied for a 3.673 championship grade point average.