Skyline repeats as WIAA 4A girls soccer champion, but not without battle from Woodinville
PUYALLUP, Wash. - Just when it seemed that the opportunity to add to its rich history was slipping away, the Skyline High School girls soccer team grabbed the moment with its fingertips and hung on.
It actually was literally the fingertips of Spartans’ goalkeeper Sydney Seigel that sent her team in the right direction when things looked grim.
Seigel, a junior, made eight saves - with two coming in overtime shootout to help top-seeded Skyline pull out a 2-1 win over 4A KingCo rival Woodinville in a surprisingly tough Class 4A state championship match Saturday at Sparks Stadium.
The Spartans (18-1-0) avoided a finals' faceplant against a conference rival it outscored, 10-2, in two previous meetings this season, prevailing 4-2 in the shootout. Woodinville (14-4-2) looked like it was going to break a 1-1 tie in the second half with a strong offensive push after rallying from a 1-0 deficit.
"I just feels very good to help my team win even though it was very close," Seigel said after making six big saves in the second half. "I wanted to give my team the best chance they had [by making saves in PKs]. It was stressful, of course, but I did my part and my team did theirs.
"In this game, we had to fight through it and we did that to the very end. That’s why we won."
That persistent fight allowed Skyline to capture the school’s state big-school (3A and 4A) record seventh state title, all under 20th year head coach Don Braman. The Spartans also became the first big school to post back-to-back titles on three different occasions.
"I’ve never met a more hard-working group," said Skyline forward Ashley Roni, an Alabama signee who gave her team a 1-0 lead on a header in the 10th minute with her 29th goal of the season. "Every practice, every game everyone is 100 percent. We play for each other. Our team is super selfless and that’s something I cherish so much.
"Everyone is playing for each other."
Senior defender Brooklyn Crandall converted the game-winning penalty kick in shootout and the Spartans celebrated.
But the match could’ve gone either way.
"We just have an amazing crew and we persevered tonight," said Braman. "Woodinville was really at their best tonight and really put us to the test."
The Falcons, who took 6-2 and 4-0 beatings earlier in 2023 against Skyline, hung tough in the first half with good defense, relying on five saves from goalkeeper Jordin Jones.
Kameron Wimsatt tied the game at 1-1 on a 19-yard blast in the 69th minute and Woodinville made Skyline very uncomfortable until the final whistle blew in regulation and again after 10 minutes of overtime.
It was the ninth time in 12 seasons where at least one team from KingCo 4A made the 4A finals and fifth time overall with a pair of KingCo 4A schools in the final.
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NO. 14 SEED ROOSEVELT WINS 3A CROWN
Photo by Matt Massey
Junior midfielder Andrea Cummings scored a pair of goals as the Roughriders (15-7-3) completed a storybook run to the school’s first state title in girls soccer with a 4-1 victory over Shorecrest.
No. 14 seed Roosevelt overcame six loser-out matches late in the season and were winless in its final five regular-season contests, but something changed before anyone could end its season.
"I never would have imagined this," said Roosevelt junior midfielder Andrea Cummings, who netted two goals in the victory and four in the state playoffs. "We had to fight every last game. We had to play the most amount of games [including a loser-out postseason qualifier] to get here and we won all the games we needed to win to get here.
"I am so happy we got here and I’ve never been happier."
The Riders took control of the match with two goals less than a minute apart late in the first half to take a 2-0 edge into halftime. Cummings started things with a left-footed smash from 15 yards out in the 35th minute and Brigid Bennett knocked in a penalty kick in the 36th after a foul in the penalty area on No. 9 seed Shorecrest (18-5-0).
"All these memories are going to last me a lifetime," a teary-eyed and rain-soaked Cummings said afterward.
The Roughriders became the highest seed to win a state title -- as No. 14 out of all 16 state qualifiers – in the three seasons seedings have been used for state.
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