Boys Soccer: Shorewood Falls 2-0 to Glacier Peak, Will Face Ferndale in Playoffs

Branson Corwin scored two goals and Glacier Peak locked up the WesCo title with a 2-0 win over Shorewood on Senior Night on Wednesday night at Shoreline Stadium in Shoreline.

The Grizzlies needed a win in its regular season finale to overcome Shorecrest for the league title and got it against the Thunderbirds in a game that could have gone either way. Glacier Peak will face Lynnwood on Saturday at 1 pm at Glacier Peak, while Shorewood will face Ferndale on Saturday at 5 pm at Shoreline Stadium in the opening round of the district playoffs.

It was the first regulation league loss for Shorewood all season. The T-birds previous three WesCo losses had come via shootout, two to Shorecrest, one to Glacier Peak.

"This is the first game we've lost in 80 minutes," Shorewood head coach Nathan Davis said. "I think we're as good as [Glacier Peak] or as good as Shorecrest, things haven't broken our way early in the season."

Corwin broke open a close game with his goal, a header from six yards out following a corner kick in the 35th minute to give Glacier Peak a 1-0 lead.

Shorewood switched to a more aggressive 3-4-3 formation to start the second half in an attempt to even the score, but the Grizzlies quickly exposed the new strategy, as Corwin added his second goal from eight yards out in the 42nd minute. After Kyle Bjorenthum's shot was blocked by a Shorewood defender, Corwin beat T-birds goalkeeper Simon Aspinall near-post to lock up the win.

Shorewood had plenty of opportunities, despite only putting two shots on goal. Midfielder Tanner Jones missed just high on a one-on-one breakaway in the 10th minute and again missed just high on a 25-yard volley shot in the second half.

Shorewood's best chance on goal came in the 53rd minute, when Jones bent around the wall on a 25-yard free kick and nearly beat Grizzlies goalkeeper Andrew Weakly high on the far post.

"I changed to a 3-4-3 against them, just to get a little more offensive attack on them," Davis said. "Their defense was solid tonight. Their defense had issues the first time we played them, in the second half, and had issues against Shorecrest and tonight they righted the ship. They must have done something good in practice yeterday."

The T-birds appeared to get frustrated late in the second half after a flurry of opportunities resulted in nothing. Shorewood mounted no serious threats in the final 15 minutes of the game.

"I basically told them that their negative attitude in the second half is what brought us down," Davis said.  

Glacier Peak was coming off a listless 3-0 loss to Shorecrest and looked like a team ready to remind people why it has been ranked number-one in the state for much of the season.

"As good as the season's been, it's been a difficult one from the standpoint of finding challenges for the boys," Glacier Peak head coach Shannon Murray said. "The Shorecrest game was a good one, because I think it woke us up."

Shorewood had already locked up the three-seed heading into WesCo and will face Ferndale of the Northwest League in a loser-out game on Saturday.

If the T-birds beat Ferndale, they would face Glacier Peak again on Tuesday, assuming the Grizzlies get past Lynnwood as expected in the first round. Shorewood has lost three straight times to Glacier Peak, including a shootout loss earlier in the season.

"I think I'm going to go home and research statistics on how many teams beat someone four times in a row," Davis said with a laugh. "I don't think it's very high."