PUYALLUP, Wash. – When Bellevue junior Lily Colby’s 27th-minute corner kick caromed off the crossbar, bounced off a Roosevelt player and ended up in the back of the net in Saturday’s WIAA 3A State Championship, Bellevue fans could breathe a sigh of relief.
The Wolverines’ defense is as stout as they come, and the Roughriders had to do something only six teams did all season against Bellevue: Score.
The Roughriders joined the list of scoreless Wolverine foes, as Bellevue won, 1-0, to secure the Class 3A State championship.
“We tend to tighten our defense after we get one,” Bellevue goalkeeper Amirah Haque said. “But I think sometimes we get a little too comfortable with 1-0.”
Hague made the stop of the game in the 72nd minute when Roosevelt forward Avery O’Donnell got free for a 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper. Haque charged clear of her line, as O’Donnell stretched her foot forward on a full sprint and flicked the ball forward. The senior goalkeeper interrupted the ball’s certain destination of the back of the net, before colliding with O’Donnell.
“I knew she was alone and nobody else was going to be there,” Hague said. “So I just took the hit to the jaw and got the ball.”
Minutes later, Bellevue was lifting its second state championship trophy, joining the 2016 team.
“It’s a team of perseverance,” said coach Peter Cochran, noting the loss of Washington commit Alex Buck. Buck suffered a stress fracture in her back and missed the entire season. “The way she handled that disappointment by … being our No. 1 hype player, and then how everyone rallied around a loss like that. It was a collective effort.”
Roosevelt (16-5-2) matched its best state finish with a second-place trophy. The 2000 team lost to Bellarmine Prep in the title game.
The Wolverines finished the year a perfect 19-0.
“It was just a really loving team, and that’s hard to find and create,” Hague said. “I’m really proud of us.”
4A State Championship
Skyline 2, Issaquah 0
The five stars on the backs of each team’s jerseys say it all. These two schools, just six miles apart in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains, set the bar for Class 4A girls soccer. The programs have combined for 11 of the past 20 4A championships.
So despite lopsided 5-1 and 5-2 victories over their rivals in the season, Skyline knew Saturday’s championship game would be no walk in the park. The Spartans gritted through a physical affair, scoring on a pair of penalty kicks to win the WIAA 4A State Championship 2-0.
Ashley Roni was the victim of each of the fouls that led to penalty decisions.
“It was such an intense game,” Roni said. “It’s always been so close all the time, but we had to push through and win.”
Roni was taken down in the 22nd minute and Sophie Zhang converted from the spot to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. And then again, Roni was tripped in the 73rd minute. She got to ice the game with her own goal from the mark.
“We have to change formation, had to change everything,” Roni said of meeting the Eagles for a third time this year. “But we fought, and I’m super proud of us.”
The Spartans are now six-time champions with their last title coming in 2018. They finished the year 18-0-1.
Issaquah, which lost last year’s championship game in a shootout to Camas, ends at 14-5.
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