Prep girls soccer: Warriors earn decisive 4-1 win over Stormrays

Motivated by a disappointing loss to Archbishop Murphy last week and four consecutive defeats to the Shorewood Stormrays over the past three years, the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors wanted to prove to themselves that they are capable of rising to the occasion when needed.

The Warriors did so — with some gusto — on Tuesday.

Edmonds-Woodway jumped out to an early lead, withstood a strong second-half challenge and then punctuated the evening with a big finish to put down the defending 3A Wesco League South Conference champion Stormrays 4-1 in a league battle played at Edmonds Stadium.

“This is big,” Warrior senior Janie Hanson said after the thumping her squad put on the visiting Stormrays. ”It’s Shorewood. We always want to get the ‘dub’ against Shorewood.”

E-W scored their opening goal in the eighth minute when senior co-captain Abby Peterson rifled a penalty kick off the right goalpost and into the goal. Peterson’s PK came as a result of Shorewood’s Jasmyn Jacobs taking down Akiko Ikegami as the Warriors’ defender/midfielder raced into the left side of the Stormrays’ 18-yard box.

The match went 40 minutes before the next score when Hanson — with her back to the goal — received a pass from Ikegami and volleyed an improbable shot from 25 yards out over the head of Shorewood goalkeeper Mady Finseth and into the goal. 

Although she admitted that she’s never practiced a shot like it, Hanson wasn’t entirely surprised that the ball was able to find the back of the net. “I knew my feet were set, so I wasn’t totally shocked,” she said. “But I was also, like, ‘great, that worked out.’”

Shorewood was able to pull within a goal in the 62nd minute when junior McKenna Anderson scored on a long-range looping shot of her own. But the Warriors put the game away with a pair of goals by senior defender Magdalena Waters in the final three minutes. 

In the 37th minute, Shorewood’s Finseth made a diving save of an Amelia Miller header. Waters was able to tuck the rebound just inside the right goalpost for her first goal.

Then in the game’s final minute, Natalie Maxey sailed a corner kick high along the endline and over the head of Finseth, where Waters was waiting to head the ball into the netting from point-blank range.

Hanson was elated that Waters was able to get on the scoresheet twice as the senior gets few opportunities to score from her center back position. “But she’s more than capable of doing it (scoring goals), Hanson said. “So this is so exciting; clearly, as you saw, she’s totally a threat in the box, especially with her head.”

Shorewood, which was 10-1-1 in 3A Wesco League play last year to claim the South Conference title — and 15-0-0 in 3A Wesco League contests in 2023 — had opportunities for more than just their one goal against the E-W defense on Tuesday. First, a shot by Anderson from short range in the 20th minute bounced off the right goalpost; later, in the 57th minute, a blast from 23 yards out by Scarlett VonGunten rang off the crossbar to deny a goal.

The tough-luck Stormrays also played Tuesday’s match without a couple of their key players. Shorewood’s biggest offensive threat, Jasmine Bea Lumbera, missed the game as the senior was touring colleges in California, while defensive standout Frankie Lara was out due to injury.

Still, Hanson believed the Warriors’ 4-1 victory over the depleted Stormrays was important for the morale of her squad. ”We’re coming off a tough loss to (Archbishop) Murphy (1-0 on Sept. 11), so we wanted to bounce back and play a game that we knew we could.”

The Warriors travel to Shoreline Stadium for their next match to face Shorecrest on Monday, Sept. 23, then have three straight home games at Edmonds Stadium before a rematch with Shorewood on Oct. 7.

Prep Girls Soccer: Shorewood at Edmonds-Woodway, Sept. 18

Shorewood 0 1 – 1

Edmonds-Woodway 1 3 – 4

Goal scorers:

– Abby Peterson (Edmonds-Woodway) in the 8th minute on a penalty kick

– Janie Hanson (Edmonds-Woodway) in the 48th minute, assisted by Akiko Ikegami

– McKenna Anderson (Shorewood) in the 62nd minute, assisted by Sky Helstad

– Magdalena Waters (Edmonds-Woodway) in the 77th minute, assisted by Amelia Miller

– Magdalena Waters (Edmonds-Woodway) in the 80th minute, assisted by Natalie Maxey

Shots:

– Edmonds-Woodway, 14

– Shorewood, 8

Saves:

– Morgan Smith (Edmonds-Woodway), 3

– Mady Finseth (Shorewood), 7

Corner kicks:

– Edmonds-Woodway, 5

– Shorewood, 4

Yellow cards:

– none

Records: Edmonds-Woodway 2-1-0 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 3-2-0 overall; Shorewood 1-1-0 in 2A/3A Wesco League South Conference, 2-3-0 overall

Edmonds-Woodway next match: versus Shorecrest; Tuesday, Sept. 23; 7 p.m. at Shoreline Stadium

Shorewood next match: versus Archbishop Murphy; Monday, Sept. 22; 7 p.m. at Shoreline Stadium