Clank. Ding. Boink.
Pick a sound effect — and it was probably heard Tuesday night during Issaquah’s regular-season finale against Redmond.
The Eagles ricocheted five shots off the goal post, and out-shot the Mustangs 19-5, before finally booting in a score for a 1-0 overtime victory.
“When we started hitting the post, we knew we were getting a lot more opportunities … and we just knew that we needed to finish,” junior Michael Roberts said.
Roberts broke the streak of misses in the 86th minute, taking a headed pass from Michael Axelson in the center of the box. The junior forward leaked through the defense and beat the goalkeeper Tyler Albin one-on-one for his sixth goal of the season.
“It’s nerve-wracking,” said Issaquah head coach Jason Lichtenberger, of the early misses. “But, the guys are playing great. When we put in a defensive performance like that … you’re only going to need one.”
The Eagles kept the Mustangs at bay most of the game, minimizing shots on goal. When tested, Issaquah goalkeeper Michael Stanton came up with some clutch stops.
“We’re playing our best soccer of the year, we’re peaking at the right time and that’s where we want to be right now,” Lichtenberger said.
The Eagles improved to 6-2-3 in league and 8-5-3 overall with the victory, and secured the No. 5 seed headed into the playoffs. Roosevelt finished with the same league record, but earns the tiebreaker for the fourth seed by way of record against common opponents. Roosevelt will host Issaquah at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at Interbay Stadium in Seattle in a loser-out game.
Garfield and Skyline earned the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds and will play for the KingCo 4A championship Tuesday, May 11. The winner of that game locks up a state berth. The loser hosts the Greater St. Helens League No. 2 for a winner-to-state, loser-out game next weekend.
Bothell finished as the No. 3 seed and will host sixth-seeded Eastlake this Saturday in a loser-out game. The winner of Bothell-Eastlake and Issaquah-Roosevelt will face each other before the KingCo championship on May 11. The winner of that game gets to travel to the GSHL No. 1 for a winner-to-state, loser-out game.
Skyline locks up trip to KingCo title game
Skyline secured the No. 2 spot in the KingCo 4A Tuesday night, beating Woodinville 3-2 in its regular-seaosn finale.
The Spartans received the game winner from Travis Strawn in the 39th minute — right before the half.
Skyline took the initial lead in the 5th minute on a goal from Giancarlo Santoro. Woodiniville tied on an own goal in the 11th minute, before Jacob Bechtel scored an unassisted goal in the 16th minute.
Tony North tied the game again in the 22nd minute.
The Spartans end the regular season with a 7-3-1 record, tied with Garfield and Bothell. They earn the No. 2 seed because they lost to Garfield, but beat Bothell. Skyline will play May 11 against Garfield in the KingCo championship. A time and location are still to be determined. Garfield will host the game.
Eastlake finishes regular season strong
Eastlake ended the regular season with a 4-0 victory over Ballard on Tuesday night.
The Wolves received two goals from Renato Bandeira, one from Trevor Seliber and another from Nick Rudella.
Eastlake moved to 6-3-2 with the win.
As the No. 6 seed in KingCo, the Wolves will travel to face No. 3 Bothell this Saturday at Pop Keeney Stadium for a loser-out game. A start time is yet to be determined.
