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On to Tacoma!
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In Friday night’s game, it only took 28 seconds before senior forward Trefor Bacon ripped a Felipe Lopez through ball just left of the Grizzlies’ goal. Junior midfielder Lopez found sophomore forward Mario Nunez alone in the box for three point-blank attempts, then connected with Bacon for a header that grazed the top of the bar. And that was just the first ten minutes. Bear Creek’s luck held for 26 minutes before the Wolverines scored on Bacon’s deft flick to the right corner of the net, off a feed pass from senior midfielder Johannes Paul’s free kick. The 14-yard strike left the halftime score at 1-0. The Wolverines dominated play at both ends of the field, including stopping high-powered Grizzly forward Eric Chalk on the left side. "We needed to control the ball more," said junior goalkeeper Paul Guard. "In the second half we settled down, after playing maybe a little too fast from the start. Our midfielders got back, and we were winning the ball. It was a total team effort." In the second half, the Wolverines showed more poise and control on the artificial turf, and seemed to be honing in on the goal, as Lopez knocked paint off the bar with a shot at nine minutes, and nearly scored with Bacon five minutes later on a breakaway. But while the Bear Creek keeper was a magnet for Friday Harbor attempts on goal, his luck ran out with 16 minutes left as junior midfielder Eric Rothlisberger’s low-ball shot to the left corner was just deflected by the diving keeper, only to be scooped up and hammered home by an alert Matthew Porter, the freshman forward who has shown a knack for finding the net this season when the Wolverines most need a goal. Moments later Porter was dragged by the shirt to the turf in the penalty area by junior defender Peter Heine, who was promptly booked and sent off with a yellow card. Porter calmly converted the penalty kick for the last score. "It was nerve-racking, in front of all those people," Porter said of the penalty kick, "But I was able to keep my focus. It felt good to help the team." The Wolverine’s third straight shutout in the playoffs bodes well if they face high-scoring University Prep in the next round (67 goals on the year, allowing only 11). While Friday Harbor has allowed just six goals this season, they’ll need to play together to hold out the Emerald City League shooters. Keeper Guard kept his defense of freshmen Louis Paul and Shay Byington, junior Daniel Jones, and senior John Fyrqvist tight and focused, forcing the Grizzlies to shoot from outside the box with shots which Guard was able to handle easily. "The only mistakes we tend to see are the ones we make," said Jones of the night’s defensive effort. "Then we adjust. When we mark our men the way we should, it works really well." Fyrqvist agreed. "Tonight we had the chemistry it takes to win, and we played like it. You know, every practice we focus on working together against the best offense we’ve seen all year – ours – and that just makes us better and better. And Paul [Guard]’s incredible." | ||
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Wolverine Notes: The evening’s three goals bring the Wolverines season total to 90 in 18 games. In the Emerald City League, University Prep’s diversified attack has five of the league’s top seven scorers. If matched with Friday Harbor's defense, they’ll meet the state’s stingiest defense, allowing only six goals all year. Bear Creek finished its season with a game effort, after its 4-2 upset of Northwest Academy last week to earn its ticket to last night’s match. Prior to this season’s run of success, Friday Harbor soccer team had never won a playoff game in the 15-year history of the program, begun by Lopez’s father, Juan, in 1989. So far this year, they haven’t lost one, in 2003, the 13-3 Wolverines lost two to eventual state champs Archbishop Thomas Murphy; in 2002, they were ousted from the playoffs by eventual state champs Charles Wright Academy. Friday Harbor is the only public school in the eight-team state tournament – the other teams are all private schools. Seattle Academy and University Prep split their two game series this season, with both winning by one goal over the other. | |||
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