When Eastlake defeated Skyline in football last year for the first time in school history, they did more than earn Plateau bragging rights.
The loss kept the Spartans out of the KingCo title game, but provided a proving ground for the rest of the season that coach Mat Taylor’s squad answered with its fourth state title in the last five years.
Another 4A championship is still on the table for unbeaten and Crest Division champion Skyline this year, and the team will open state tournament play on either November 2 or 3 after facing Bothell in the league title game on October 25.
Issaquah, which finished the regular season 2-3 and in fourth place in the division, will host second-seeded Woodinville on Friday at 7 p.m. for a postseason berth.
Eastlake, which outlasted Inglemoor 16-7 in the first game of a three-way playoff on Tuesday, will meet Roosevelt for a playoff spot on Saturday at 7:45 p.m.
Eastside Catholic will also be back on the gridiron with a championship on the line when it takes on Nathan Hale at Memorial Stadium in a 7:45 p.m. kickoff on Friday.
Girls soccer
Skyline, which finished the regular season unbeaten, will play Redmond for the 4A KingCo title at home on October 30 at 7:30 p.m. in hopes of making a run at a second straight state title and fourth since 2008.
A pair of loser-out matches will begin the tournament on Saturday and give four teams, including third-seeded Issaquah, a chance to win three consecutive games to earn the final state playoff berth from the district.
Volleyball
The 4A KingCo tournament begins on Saturday at Skyline and the top eight teams in the conference will vie for the two automatic state playoff spots and one berth in the district crossover match against the third place finisher from 4A Wesco.
Skyline enters with a record of 9-1 and the second seed and will face seventh seeded Issaquah in the opening round match.
Eastlake will take on Garfield in a 4 p.m. start.
Eastside Catholic will meet Holy Names on Thursday in the 3A Metro League tournament at Chief Sealth High School.
Boys tennis
Skyline’s Aman Manji won the league singles title and earned the automatic berth to the state tournament, which takes place in the spring.
Braden Hansen and Alex Wu were third in doubles and will face the third place finishers from Wesco for the final state playoff spot in 4A boys doubles.
Boys golf
Li Wang took home the top spot in 4A KingCo after helping Eastlake to an unbeaten season. Teammate Spencer Weiss and seventh place finisher Will Sharp were also at the top of the heap in the conference and will be in the postseason for the Wolves.
Brian Mogg and Kelley Sullvian of Skyline are headed to the state meet in the spring.
Girls swim and dive
The KingCo preliminaries are Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the University of Washington with the finals the following afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
Contact and submissions: jsuman@bellevuereporter.com
