Boys Soccer: Shorewood Falls Late to Glacier Peak, Will Play Mount Vernon Thursday

Shorewood boys soccer head coach Nathan Davis was left shaking his head after his team fell 2-0 last week to Glacier Peak in a game defined by near misses and costly mistakes.

After Shorewood's 2-1 loss to Glacier Peak on Tuesday, Davis' head was shaking again.

Juan Machuca-Garin scored on a flick-on header following a free kick in the 72nd minute and Glacier Peak came from behind to defeat the Thunderbirds for the third time this season in the second round of the Northwest 3A District Tournament on Tuesday night at Glacier Peak High School in Snohomish.

"That's our best game" Davis said of his team's effort. "That second half, they had one opportunity and the scored it. That's what good teams do."

The win qualified Glacier Peak for the state tournament. The Grizzlies will face Shorecrest in the tournament championship game on Thursday, with both teams already guaranteed state berths. Shorewood on the other hand, will face off against Mount Vernon of the Northwest 3A conference for the final state spot out of the district tourney.

The Thunderbirds looked early as if they had finally figured out how to beat the state's second-ranked team as Shorewood capitalized midway through the first half on an effective counter-attack.

Midfielder Tanner Jones took the ball on the left side of the Shorewood offensive third and cut back to the middle, laying off a perfect ball for Eugene Holley. Holley took one dribble and shot with his left foot from 16 yards out, beating Glacier Peak goalkeeper Andrew Weakly low on the far post in the 20th minute.

"He's been wanting that kind of shot all year," Davis said of Holley. "And it was a great assist by Tanner, to not be selfish and drop that one off and Eugene did exactly what he needed to do."

But the defending state champions did not wait long to answer. After an initial Glacier Peak shot was blocked by a Shorewood defender, Gregor Troost found T-Birds goalkeeper Simon Aspinall out of position and beat him from six yards out for the equalizer.

After being outshot 12-3 in the first half, most of the second half belonged to the Shorewood offense. The T-birds had two dead-on opportunities, but each flashed beyond the goal.

Hamza Haddadi has the first opportunity, using a change of direction dribble to leave himself open from just outside the six-yard box, but Haddadi's strike was blocked by Weakley. Tanner Jones followed with a hit from eight yards out, but his shot sailed just over the crossbar.

Haddadi had another chance in the 70th minute, again gaining separation from his defender with a nice move and striking from inside 10 yards out, but his shot was just high, hitting off the goalpost just behind the goal.

Glacier Peak, which had been relegated to playing defense most of the second half, got its best opportunity in the 72nd minute and made the most of it. Troost took a free-kick from 35 yards out and sent the ball towards the near-post. Machuca-Garin flicked the kick on from 12 yards out, easily beating a frozen Aspinall for the winning goal.

"That's just the experience factor," Glacier Peak head coach Shannon Murray said of his teams comeback. "It's a team that's been in this situation before. Last year, in the semifinal and the final, we were down at halftime 1-0 both games, so we've been through this."

Things got chippy in the final five minutes, as Shorewood attempted to tie the game. Sahil Khan was called for a fall while battling Michael Mikulsky for the ball and both players went down. Khan and Mikulsky tussled as they attempted to get up and several players from each side became involved in the skirmish. At least four yellow cards were issued and play resumed without any further issues.

The loss dropped Shorewood's season record to 12-6, with five of those losses coming to Shorecrest and Glacier Peak, the states top-two ranked teams. Shorewood will play Mount Vernon, which lost 3-1 to Shorecrest on Tuesday night, at 5:30 on Thursday at Edmonds Stadium in a winner-to-state/loser-out game. Glacier Peak will play Shorecrest at 7:30 on the same day at the same location.

"If we play the way we did tonight, we'll beat anyone," Davis said. "This is the kind of soccer I want to see us playing going into the state tournament and I'm going to say going in, because we're going to get there."