Tuesday was simply one of those nights for the Eastlake soccer team — albeit a night the program hadn’t experienced in a long time.
“We had our chances, far more than they did. We didn’t put the ball in the net,” said a frustrated Eastlake head coach Chuck Krieble.
Playing in their first league game of the season, the Wolves suffered their first loss in the past 23 games, falling 1-0 to Woodinville at Pop Keeney Stadium.
“That, for us, was a very good win against still maybe the best team in the state,” Woodinville head coach Sully Hester said. “I’m glad we’re not playing 10 games, because they might win nine.”
The two teams battled to a scoreless tie at halftime, with the Wolves out-shooting the Falcons 4-2. Eastlake continued to pressure the Woodinville defense in the second half, out-shooting them 4-3.
A quick strike in the 49th minute was all the Falcons needed, however, to steal the victory. Pushing the ball down the left sideline, Woodinville’s Brooke Phayer found Stine Schoening in the center of the field. The junior forward took the pass mid-air from 15-yards out and flipped it with the outside of her right foot, bouncing it over the outstretched arms of Eastlake goalkeeper Shelby Nilsen.
“They had it defended, somebody was right on her,” Hester said. “It was great to just be able to get a toe on a shot like that.”
Eastlake kept up the offensive pressure for the remainder of the contest, narrowly missing on scoring opportunities in the 61st, 67th, 72nd and 76th minutes. A combination of missed crosses, shots over and wide of the net, and key saves from Woodinville’s Leslie Greer continued to plague the Wolves.
“I just felt like we couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net,” junior forward Emily Hurd said. “I thought we showed up for the game. It just didn’t go our way today, and that happens in soccer. It’s a funny game — anything can happen.”
Eastlake, which started the season at 3-0 in non-league play and went 19-0 last year on its way to the 4A title, hadn’t tasted defeat since Nov. 17, 2006. Ironically, that loss came 4-0 to Woodinville in the 2006 state semifinals. The Wolves rebounded in the consolation final with a 1-0 shootout victory over Mead — kicking off the string of wins.
“I think it’s a good wake-up call for us early, to let us know that we are not invincible and that we just need to get back to work,” Hurd said.
The Wolves had three of their top scorers from last season out with injuries, including Kory Spotts, Allie Beahan and Lindsay Elston. Hurd said she has no doubt once the team gets healthy and with a little more hard work they will be fine.
“I think we’re fully capable of having the same kind of season that we did last year, I have a lot of faith in my teammates,” she said. “I think today was just an off day.”
Eastlake takes to the field after a week off at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at Newport.
