Woodinville Stops Jefferson, 2-1
Tue, 11/14/2006
SUMNER - The final scene displayed the result.
Laying on her back as her Thomas Jefferson teammates fell to their knees at Sunset Stadium, Michelle Borth struggled to overcome an emotional ending to the Raiders' girls soccer season last Wednesday.
Despite firing away strongly in the second half, Jefferson fell to Woodinville when a shot from Erin McDevitt slipped through in the first minute to give the KingCo Conference Falcons a 1-0 victory in a Class 4A first-round state playoff game.
Woodinville hosted Decatur in a quarterfinal match up on Saturday at Pop Keeney Stadium in Bothell after press time.
On the scoring play, sophomore goalkeeper Liz Fitch appeared to draw a bead on the 15-yard shot by McDevitt from the left side, but the ball slid through Fitch's hands, between her legs and into the net.
"It's really slippery because it's been raining so much so it just kind of went in through her legs and slipped through her hands," McDevitt explained. I didn't think it was going to go in..."
For the following 79 minutes, Borth and the Raider defense provided a stone wall defense, but despite its best efforts Jefferson failed to dent the scoreboard.
Attacking aggressively like German Panzer tanks from World War II, the Raiders (12-5-2) regularly sent opportunities to score into Woodinville territory in the second half and jump started their dormant first half passing game.
Thomas Jefferson's greatest threat to score the equalizer materialized when Borth blasted a 33-yard shot that bounced off the right post in the 52nd minute of regulation. The ball richocheted to the left side of the goal before senior midfielder/forward Brittany Creek kicked the ball wide left.
"I thought that if I could hit the kick, the goal keeper might fumble it in the wet weather," stated Borth as she bravely composed herself after the game. "I just tried to hit on frame as best as I could. It's hard to end such a great season."
Within eight minutes, Jefferson junior Sara Byrne delivered a shot from the left side that sophomore goal keeper Catrina Tadlock eached high to smack away.
Jefferson continued to fire salvos at net only to have Tadlock save three shots during the final 10 minutes. Woodinville's Tadlock stopped consecutive shots from Brittany Creek and Mel Hicks, respectively, in the 72nd and 73rd minutes to protect the win.
The Raiders closed out their glorious season as South Puget Sound League champions after capturing the North Division title.
"That's what hurts," said TJ head coach Amy Sutherland. "The ball didn't bounce for us tonight. We didn't capitalize on the opportunities when we carried the game to them (Woodinville). We had a great season. The girls overcame a lot of obstacles to realize these accomplishments."
Assisting TJ head coach Sutherland for the 2006 season was Wade Webber. Raider players were Liz Fitch, Megan Hilby, Amy Pate, Sasha Nevin, Michelle Borth, Ashley Brough, Kelsey Learned, Mel Hicks, Kelsey Racicot, Molly Gebhardt, Kendall Swynenburg, Shannon Hilby, Sara Byrne, Jasmine Sharp, Kaitlyn Thomas, Brittany Creek, Brittany McKay, and Mallory McKay.