The girls Class 4A state soccer tournament will have a distinctively South Puget Sound League North Division feel this season.
Especially from a local perspective.
Kentlake, Kentwood and Tahoma all earned berths to the tournament by winning their respective West Central District games on Saturday, Nov. 6.
Kentwood earned its state ticket by knocking off South Kitsap 2-1 in a shootout. It’s the first time in four postseason tries that the Conquerors (14-3-1) have come out on top in a shootout.
“We feel like the luck finally went our way,” said Kentwood coach Aaron Radford.
Reilly Retz converted the pivotal goal in the shootout. However, if it wasn’t for another strong performance by goalkeeper Courtney Johnson, the eighth-ranked Conquerors may not have earned its sixth consecutive state berth. Johnson saved her best for last as well, stopping a key shot by South Kitsap during the shootout.
“She was huge,” Radford said. “To come up with two saves (in the shootout) … if she doesn’t get a finger (on the last one), that gets in the back of the net. She has been the one who has been in two of those three previous shootouts that we lost. She had that experience. Thankfully it paid off.”
Kentwood, which took third at state last year, opens the state tournament against Central Valley (13-4) at 4 p.m. Nov. 9 at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane. The winner moves on to play the winner of the Chiawana/Lewis & Clark game on Nov. 13.
Central Valley finished third in the Greater Spokane League.
Meanwhile, Kentlake (13-3-2) earned its berth with a 2-1 sudden-death overtime victory over Rogers. Kayla Maletich scored both of Kentlake’s goals, the final of which came in the fifth minute of overtime on an assist from Callen Shelton.
Kentlake will be making its first state playoff appearance since 2003, and finds itself up against a familiar opponent: Tahoma (17-1-0). The Bears play host to the Falcons at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at Tahoma High. Tahoma has won both meetings between the two teams this year, 2-0 on Sept. 28 and 1-0 on Oct. 23.
“The girls are saying third time is a charm,” Kentlake coach Angy Mathena said in an e-mail.
Kentlake hasn’t beaten Tahoma since Sept. 30, 2003, knocking off the Bears 1-0. Tahoma holds a 12-0-3 advantage since the defeat.
Fourth-ranked Tahoma, which is making its third straight state playoff appearance, earned its berth with a 4-0 throttling of Thomas Jefferson Nov. 6. Cassidy Richmond scored a pair of goals in the victory. The winner of the Tahoma-Kentlake game will advance to play the winner of the Lake Stevens-Puyallup game on Nov. 13.
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