Trust has been paramount for the members of the Mercer Island girls soccer team during the first half of the 2015 season. It has helped them collectively find success on the soccer pitch and remain undefeated through eight games, leading up to Thursday’s contest against Liberty, the only other undefeated team in the KingCo 3A/2A standings.
For most of Thursday’s game, it appeared both teams would leave the match still undefeated as a result of a scoreless draw. But when the opportunity presented itself, Mercer Island used a little bit of trust to come up big down the stretch.
With a goal from Taylor Krause in the 78th minute, Mercer Island broke a scoreless affair to edge Liberty 1-0 Oct. 1 at Liberty High School.
“At practice, we’ve been working on staying calm in pressure situations and that really helps,” Krause said afterward. “Normally in those situations, we might have panicked and started playing long balls, and that’s not how we play. We play possession, and so we kept possession and we got the shot off.”
It was a hard-fought goal in a hard-fought, defensive grind. Neither defense allowed a clear shot on goal until the game’s 10th minute, when a Liberty attempt from the left side of the field bounced off the left Mercer Island goalpost. The Patriots (5-1-2, 3-1-1 in KingCo) had four shots in the opening half, with Islander goalkeeper Bella Johnson saving two.
On the other side, Mercer Island had corner kick opportunities in the 23rd and 37th minutes, but couldn’t capitalize at either juncture.
The Islanders (9-0, 5-0) turned up its attack in the second half, but still found themselves fending off the aggressive Patriot front line. Liberty had three more corner opportunities through the 74th minute, as well as a right-side foul kick in the 62nd minute, just outside the keeper’s box.
But time and again, the Islander defense held. Johnson came up with big saves in the 51st minute and the 66th, snagging a loose ball from Liberty forward Makena Carr, which Johnson called her toughest save of the game.
“We knew this would be an extremely tough game,” Johnson said. “I trusted my defenders for sure, and knew that I wasn’t going to let anything in. I was going to get whatever I could behind the ball.”
In the 76th minute, Mercer Island’s Jordan Snyder saw her attempt from the left side of the field saved by Patriot keeper Jasmine Curl. Less than two minutes later, Krause found herself with one defender to beat when she fired from the right side of the field, finding the back left corner of the net.
“I trusted my teammates to give it to me when I was open,” Krause said. “I knew where [the defender] was on my shoulder and I was able to turn, but it was about trusting my teammates and knowing that they’re going to give me the ball so I can make the turn quickly and think ahead of the game.”
The Patriots had two final corner kick opportunities in the final minute of the contest. The Islanders knocked the first attempt out of bounds, while Johnson corralled the second attempt as the final whistle sounded.
Islander coach Ryan Camden credited the win as a total team effort. He called Krause a “phenomenal, dedicated player,” and praised Johnson as the “best keeper in KingCo.”
“The last couple of minutes, it was grinding out and things were getting a little shaky, and she just wanted to win for her teammates,” Camden said. “From the back forward, it was a quality effort by the entire team.”
Mercer Island has its next two contests in Bellevue, taking on the Wolverines at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Bellevue High School, followed by another road game against the Interlake Saints at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8.
