It was a miserable afternoon for Union goalkeeper Taylor Applegate on Saturday.
The senior danced around, jumped in place and jogged back and forth, doing whatever she could to keep warm in a cold, persistent, soaking rain at McKenzie Stadium as her teammates put on a clinic more than 50 yards away.
Ashley Hruby scored 12 minutes into the match, Brina Sych added three goals as the Union rolled past Hazen of Renton 5-0 in a bi-district girls soccer playoff match.
The win sends Union into the Class 3A state playoffs, as the Titans will face Lakeside of Seattle at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Doc Harris Stadium.
The most telling statistics from Saturday’s match — 0 saves for goalkeeper Applegate. She only touched the ball four times all afternoon as Hazen mounted no serious attacks on the goal.
“I can’t say enough about how well our back four played,” Union coach Kelsey Burris said. “Hazen has a player, Kayla Hackman, who scored 30 goals this season. And our back four did a great job of containing her.”
With the defense holding the back line, it allowed Union’s offense to push forward and keep the pressure on the Highlanders.
Hruby got Union on the board in the 12th minute, scoring off an assist from Kayla Vera. Five minutes later, Chloe Allison pushed the ball quickly up the left side before centering it to Sych, who punched it in for her first goal. In the 27th minute, the Titans got three shots from point-blank range before Sych scored.
“I thought we did a good job of following our game plan,” Burris said. “We got on them quickly, and it’s a lot easier to play in front than from behind.”
Burris said playing in the 3A Greater St. Helens League has helped prepare the Titans for the state playoffs.
The 3A GSHL is one of the top girls soccer leagues in the state. All three GSHL teams — Union, Camas and Columbia River — won bi-district playoffs on Saturday.
But the Titans won’t get a break to open state. Last season, Union played Lakeside in the first round of the state playoffs and needed a seven-round penalty kick shootout to win, 3-2.
