With just seconds to go in regulation time, the bench players of the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors were poised to rush the pitch at Mercer Island High School on Saturday to celebrate a big state tourney win that would propel the Warriors into the tournament’s final four.

But that anticipated sideline jubilation turned to heartache as the Mercer Island Islanders tied the match with the final kick of regulation time, sending the game to overtime.

It was a blow that the Warriors wouldn’t recover from as the no. 3-seeded Islanders went on to defeat Edmonds-Woodway 2-2 (4-2 in penalty kicks) and end E-W’s WIAA State 3A Boys Soccer Tournament run — and their 2025 season.

Late in regulation time, the no.11-seeded Warriors looked to be on their way to victory on Saturday and reach the state tournament semifinals for the third time in five years after senior Oliver Zoloth scored an unlikely goal in the 56th minute, giving E-W a 2-1 lead.

Zoloth scored with his back to the goal by spinning an awkward-looking shot past a charging Adam Kiviat, the freshman goalkeeper of the Islanders, that slowly trickled into the vacated goal mouth.

The E-W one-goal advantage held up for all but the final seconds of regulation and added time when Mercer Island scored the heart-wrenching tying goal. After Warriors’ goalkeeper Daniel Abraham had punched away a blast by Mercer Island’s Ben Park, Kai Parker pounced on the rebound and pounded a shot past Abraham to score at the end of the four minutes of added time.

The game immediately went to 10 minutes of overtime and then, with the score still knotted at 2-2, to penalty kicks. The Islanders converted on their first four PK’s while the Warriors’ had two of their four penalty shots stopped by Kiviat and Mercer Island (12-3-3 overall) claimed the victory.

After the heartbreaking loss, the Warriors took a little extra time to linger on the pitch, console each other and try to emotionally recover from the tough defeat.

“I think as regulation extended on and on and on, we thought that we were going to finish that off,” said Edmonds-Woodway Coach Jason Hanson. “But unfortunately they had just enough time for that tying shot. So it was super unfortunate how that went down.”

The loss was especially painful for a Warrior team that had won in six of their previous seven outings (their only loss, a 2-0 defeat to state 3A tourney no. 1-seed Shorewood).

“I told them we kind of hit our peak the last couple of weeks … we were peaking at the right time,” Hanson said. “I’ve been confident the last couple of weeks that we were going to do this. I really thought we were going to punch our ticket to Puyallup (site of the State 3A tournament semifinal and final matches next weekend), but unfortunately that’s the way it goes. There’s one certainty in soccer: it’s uncertainty.”

Saturday’s state quarterfinal match on the home pitch of the Islanders was scoreless in the first half. Then just four minutes into the second, Mercer Island got on the scoreboard when Park found himself unmarked as a throw-in bounced through the E-W 18-yard box; Park rocketed a shot to the right of Abraham for the initial goal of the game.

E-W equalized in the 51st minute when Alex Plumis crossed a ball from the right side to senior Joey Dornay, who neatly finished into the lower left corner for the score.

After Zoloth’s improbable goal in the 56th minute, the Warriors found themselves fighting off the Islander’s 28-minute assault for a tying goal. E-W was able to hold off the Islanders until the final seconds of regulation time, something that Hanson admitted has been a bugaboo for his team this season.

“We have been snakebitten by giving up goals in the last couple of minutes numerous times this year,” Hanson said.

Following the Parker tying effort to end regulation time, overtime came and went without a winning goal. Then in the PK shootout, Mercer Island’s Park, Parker, Cole Nicholson and Charles Frink all scored while E-W’s Plumis and Thomas Robles were successful with their penalty kick attempts. Zoloth and Jesus Ortez Suarez had their PKs stopped with diving saves by Kiviat.

After the loss, Hanson spent time with his players that were either huddled in small groups on the field’s center circle or walking slowly to their sideline. “There’s not much you can say as a coach,” Hanson said.

Hanson was especially mindful of his 13 seniors on the team. “They’re young guys, 18 years old; they’ve got their whole lives ahead of them,” he said. “There’s so many bigger things than just this soccer season and just this game. I know it hurts now but I just wanted to be in their space and just let them know that I’m there for them.”

Now that the 2025 season is over for the Warriors (13-7-2 overall), Hanson — looking to the future — had one more message for his seniors.

“I invited all the guys that graduate to come back to the program and be a part of it as a Warrior family,” he said.

You can view the entire WIAA State 3A Boys Soccer Tournament bracket here. 

Prep Boys Soccer: Edmonds-Woodway vs. Mercer Island, May 24 (WIAA State 3A Boys Soccer Tournament quarterfinal loser-out match)

Edmonds-Woodway 0 2 – 2

Mercer Island 0 2 – 2

(penalty kicks 4-2, Mercer Island)

Goals:

– Ben Park (Mercer Island), assisted by Kyle Cupic, in the 44th minute

– Alex Plumis (Edmonds-Woodway), assisted by Joey Dornay, in the 51st minute

– Oliver Zoloth (Edmonds-Woodway) in the 56th minute

– Kai Parker (Mercer Island) in the 84th minute

Shots:

– Edmonds-Woodway, 10

– Mercer Island, 31

Saves:

– Daniel Abraham (Edmonds-Woodway), 8

– Adam Kiviat (Mercer Island), 7

Corner kicks:

– Edmonds-Woodway, 1

– Mercer Island, 7

Yellow cards:

– Joey Dornay (Edmonds-Woodway) in the 72th minute

– Benji Ikegami (Edmonds-Woodway) in the 77th minute

– Cole Nicholson (Mercer Island) in the 78th minute

Records: Edmonds-Woodway 13-7-2 overall; Mercer Island 12-3-3

Edmonds-Woodway next match: 2025 season completed

Mercer Island next match: versus no. 15 seed Auburn Mountainview; Friday, May 30; noon at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup (WIAA State 3A Boys Soccer Tournament semifinal match)