When her team most needed a burst of energy, Skyline senior Michelle Bretl delivered.
After allowing an Eastlake goal early in the second half of Tuesday’s KingCo 4A championship — only the second time an opponent has tied the Spartans this season — Bretl provided an answer in a long blast of her left foot.
“I sort of just had the idea of the trophy in my mind,” she said. “I just had to do it, the ball needs to go in the net and I was just going to be the one in that instance to put it in.”
Weaving past a pair of Wolves’ defenders, Bretl let loose on a shot from 25 yards out. The ball spun off the hands of Eastlake goalkeeper Emily Suter into the right corner of the net.
“She’s been creating great scoring chances for us all year and it was great to see her get a big goal in a big game,” Skyline head coach Don Braman said.
Skyline, which improved to 16-0, tacked on an insurance goal in the 66th minute. Madi Barney set the play up with a cross to Nicole Candioglos, who dropped the ball back to an open Rachel Shim for an uncontested score.
“The girls aren’t selfish,” Braman said. “You look at our stats and they all want everybody to be involved.”
Skyline took the game’s first lead in the 21st minute when Bretl found Alisha Connors open on a cross.
Eastlake countered in the 42nd minute when Jaclyn Softli headed in a throw-in from teammate Julia Bennett. It was Softli’s 18th goal of the season — placing her atop KingCo and leaving her one shy of a school record.
“I could see it was going to skip over her head the entire time,” Softli said. “I didn’t want hit my head on the pole, so I got as much as I could on it, and it worked.”
The 1-1 score marked only the second time Skyline had faced a tie this season, and it was the first time they were tied in the second half.
“It was kind of a new feeling for us,” Bretl said. “It was a little scary, not something we’re used to, but it kind of made us realize that we’re not a shoe-in for anything.”
The Spartans, who have now outscored opponents 55-4 this season, begin the 4A state playoffs next week as the No. 1 seed from District 2. They will host the No. 6 seed from District 3/4 Tuesday, Nov. 9, and have the potential to host all the way through the quarterfinals.
Eastlake moved to 10-6-1 on the season. The Wolves will face the No. 2 seed from District 3/4 on the road next Tuesday.
“This game was a big improvement from the last time we played (Skyline) so I think we’re going to go into (state) happy and confident and ready to go,” Softli said.
Issaquah season ends with OT loss
Issaquah rallied late Tuesday to tie Woodinville, before coming up shy in overtime, 2-1.
Facing a 1-0 deficit, the Eagles punched in an unassisted goal from Margaret Rauch with less than seven minutes left in regulation to send the match to overtime.
The Falcons abruptly ended the game in the 84th minute, however, when Audrey Phillips lifted a score into the left upper corner of the net from 15 yards out.
Issaquah ended its season with a 12-4-1 record. Woodinville (11-3-2) will play the No. 3 seed from WesCo on Saturday for the final state berth from District 1/2.
