Papermakers create late chances before falling 2-1
LAKEWO0D — Passive soccer teams don’t make it to the state semifinals.
But on Friday at Harry Lang Stadium, aggressive exuberance proved costly to the Camas Papermakers.
In an entertaining battle played at a frenetic pace, Mercer Island took advantage of a second-half penalty kick to end Camas’ dream of a state championship.
The Islanders’ Erin Bourguignon converted a penalty kick with 10:53 on the clock, and the goal stood up for a 2-1 win that sends Mercer Island into today’s state championship match against Columbia River.
“They’ve had this dream and they’re all sad,” Camas coach Roland Minder said of his players. “And they should be. If they’re not, then it wouldn’t have meant anything to them.
“At the same time, you can mourn for a little bit, but tomorrow we’ve got to get our heads together. Being No. 3 will be better than No. 4.”
Both teams converted once during a first-half filled with scoring opportunities.
Mercer Island’s Ellen Haas gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead 13:22 into the match with a beautiful shot from near the right sideline about 18 yards out from the goal line.
Moments later, the Papermakers had a rare indirect free kick from inside the penalty area that was blocked by the Islanders defensive wall.
But 14 minutes before halftime, Olivia Lovell tied the score. She knocked home the ball after the Mercer Island goalkeeper tried to punch away a cross from the left wing by Adrienne Engel.
The game’s fast pace continued into the second half, with the Papermakers creating a few more of the dangerous opportunities.
“We did a good job of maintaining focus,” Mercer Island coach Adam Gervis said. “The Camas girls played their hearts out. They worked for everything, and they are a phenomenal team.”
Mercer Island adjusted its formation to counter Camas’ three quick forwards, and the Islanders combination of size, strength and skill made keeping possession important for the smaller Papermakers.
“I thought our team did a really good job of possessing the ball, and trying to calm it down instead of just trying to kick it,” Camas midfielder Raya Klein said. “We tried to use our strengths by going down the wings, and to use our speed.”
But it was a hustling Mercer Island freshman who created the game-winning goal. Making a run into the 18-yard penalty area to the left of goal, Savannah Reid was run over by a Camas defender.
“(The defender) was a bit out of control,” Minder said. “When you have a player who is very aggressive and successful 99.9 percent of the time, there’s a risk involved with that.
“On the other hand, we had chances on goal that we didn’t finish. We had quite a few corner kicks we could have capitalized on. You can’t just say it’s on one player.”
Camas goalkeeper Andrea Soderberg had a strong match. Among her six saves were a one -on-one stop followed by a leaping save to keep the score 1-1 early in the second half. But she had no shot of stopping the penalty kick.
“You can either guess, or you can try to react,” Soderberg said. “That one there, I tried to react, but she placed it in the corner and I just couldn’t get to it.”
Even after the go-ahead goal, Camas created chances. The best of those was a rocket shot from more than 20 yards by Annike Sumpter that slammed against the crossbar.
“I had faith,” Klein said. “We were pressuring them so high. And we had Annike up there who usually can drain it in there. Unfortunately, there was nobody there to finish (the rebound on Sumpter’s crossbar shot), but the effort was definitely there.”
