Todd Beamer's rousing run through the gauntlet of Class 4A girls soccer teams finally reached its end on Saturday, November 14, at Federal Way Memorial Stadium.

After surviving a shoot out that went deep against Stadium at district and emerging with a shoot out, first-round 1-0 win at top-ranked Jackson, the No. 12 Titans fell 1-0 in the quarterfinal round against the crisply controlled passing attack of defending Class 4A champion and seventh-ranked Skyline.

With the Spartans attacking quickly, senior Anna Morgan sent an excellent cross pass into the penalty box to midfielder Coral Anderson, who knocked a 15-yard header inside the far post in the third minute of play for a 1-0 lead.

"They snuck one by us," Beamer head coach Joel Lindbergh said. "We put a lot of pressure on them. It just wasn't our day. Skyline's possessions involved a lot of booting the ball from the back. We could have tried to get more possessions in the midfield."

Skyline began the game by pouring passes into the Titan end of the field, but the Titan defenders held off any further scoring.

Following up the first half field control, the KingCo League Spartans were met by extreme resistance from the Todd Beamer defenders while the Titan offense started to unload its own deadly arsenal of shots.

With 34:20 remaining in the second half, Beamer came inches away from deadlocking the score. Senior midfielder Holland Crook took a 29-yard free kick in front of the goal, firing the ball directly toward the bottom of the near goalpost. Skyline goalkeeper Tina Vargas reacted quickly to deflect the ball with one hand. A following shot by Jasmine Brilliante was also blocked by Vargas.

"The Skyline goalkeeper made a great save," observed Crook. "I thought it was going all the way. I thought I had it down and then I heard the slap. We didn't get a lot of shots."

Beamer (13-4-3) fought its heart out and handed out punishing attacks on the Spartans with beautifully executed slide tackles, but Skyline regained the initiative for most of the last 20 minutes after weathering the storm of the Titan strikers.

"We did a good job of passing in the second half," noted senior Titan defender Jessica Sanchez. "We talked about winning more and battling harder. Then we concentrated more on our playing our game."

The Titans of Federal Way finished second in the state in 2007, but missed out on state last season.

For one of the great players in Titan history, the end of the season was sad, but more meaningful than last year.

"This was a better end than last year," concluded the Arizona State University-bound Crook. "I'm not as upset about the outcome, because it was a surprise that we got this far. I'll remember the girls putting the work in day and night. The coaches and all the people were wonderful."

Jill Stika (first half) and Tina Vargas combined for the shutout. Jul Podawitz was outstanding in goal for Todd Beamer.

The 2009 Todd Beamer player roster includes Megan Graf, Jul Podawitz, Lindsay Richou, McKayla Falecki, Karlie Hall, Jasmine Brilliante, Sarah Petosa, Sara Miller, Breanna Straus, Jessica Niewoehner, Katya Bixenman, Jenna Floyd, Mackenzie Hickel, Jessica Sanchez, Holland Crook, Tiarra Fentress, Kelli Carlson, Avery Salisbury and Sydney Rogalla.

Head coach Joel Lindberg was assisted by coaches Brett Lucas and Megan Tomlinson.