From the very beginning, Adam Gervis knew the Islanders were a special team with the potential for a special season. Beginning with the senior class, a group who entered the Mercer Island High School girls soccer program at the same time he did, and all the way down to the freshmen on this year’s varsity, the team grew and pushed the boundaries of the program, ending their season in the state title game.
Unfortunately, the title- seeking team did not get to hoist the trophy in the air after falling to Columbia River High School, 3-2, in a shootout last week.
“I think the hardest thing for us is the fact that when we played, how we play, and when we dominated, we were heads and shoulders above them,” said Gervis. “But they decided, for whatever reason, to go into a shell, and we can’t do that against a team like this that is going to keep plugging and keep plugging away.”
Despite the loss, Gervis quickly acknowledged the team’s hard work and his hope that — even without the title — the game would mean something to the girls.
“What a special group of kids,” he said. “They will go on and they will all remember this and, hopefully, will learn for next time they are in a big game. And not only a big game, but in life, for a big interview or whatever it is, just to remember and go ‘OK.’”
After knocking out Camas in the semifinal game on Friday afternoon, the girls headed into the state championship match for the first time since 2003.
Each side battled back and forth during the first half, looking for opportunities at the goal to slip something past a defender, who seemed always present. Then, in the 23rd minute of the game, the Islanders moved down field, setting up a combination play from freshman Alexi Odegard on the outside, who crossed the ball into the middle. The first attempt couldn’t clear past the Chieftains’ defensive line, but the Islanders kept pushing, determined to find a hole, until Erin Bourguignon found enough space to blast the ball past the goalie and into the bottom left-hand corner off an assist from Mary Hill.
Elated to be in the lead, the Islanders suddenly had to deal with a reinvigorated Columbia River offense. In the last 10 minutes of the game, the Chieftains earned a free kick, which freshman Islander goalie Corey Goelz pushed over the top of the goal, and then an almost constant attack from the corner until the head referee blew the whistle at halftime.
The score remained in Mercer Island’s favor for most of the second half, while the girls continued to look for their chance to extend the lead. That chance came for the Chieftains first in the 67th minute of the game, when Kellianne Swenson, a senior mid-fielder, scored off an assist from teammate Hannah Kimsey.
With only minutes left in the game, both the Islanders and Columbia River made solid attempts to secure the title outright, but it was not meant to be and the game ended regulation time tied.
After two five-minute overtime periods, during which time neither side scored, the game headed into a shootout. Goelz made two saves, but it was not enough as her teammates were only able to score twice, giving the Chieftains the title. Ellen Haas and Rachel Pedreira made the Islander’s goals.
“I asked her [Corey] to get me two saves and she did. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get enough,” said Gervis.
“It’s really tough. We practiced every day and put them away every day, but it doesn’t matter because you can’t replicate it,” he said of the atmosphere in the stands and on the field during the state championship.
“It didn’t work out as we wanted it to, that’s for sure. We deserved to win, but now it’s a new group of players and a new situation and that’s what you have to do. They didn’t get a state title, but when you’re No. 1 or No. 2 in state, it says a lot for you, and when it comes down to PK’s it’s always rough.”
The team ended the season with a 15-4-1 record overall, after capturing the first girls soccer KingCo title since 2002.
