CAMAS — A strong second half on Tuesday gave the Camas girls soccer team a good shot at advancing in the Class 3A state soccer tournament.
But a season-long struggle for goals continued, and the Papermakers season ended with a 1-0 loss to Shorecrest of Shoreline in a match decided with a penalty-kick tiebreaker.
Shorecrest won the penalty-kick shootout 4-3 at Doc Harris Stadium to advance to the state quarterfinals. Camas’ season ended with a record of 13-4-1.
“PKs hurt. I don’t think they always show who the better team is,” said Camas midfielder Olivia Lovell, one of seven Papermaker seniors.
Neither team scored during 90 minutes of play. The Scots had the better of the first half, controlling play and denying Camas any decent looks at goal.
That changed after halftime, when Papermakers coach Roland Minder dropped his wing players into midfield. That helped Camas see more possession and infused the Papermakers with a confidence that was lacking in the first half.
“In the first half (the Scots) knocked the ball around us and basically played in our half,” Minder said. “The second half we changed formation and tightened up the midfield and got control of the game and had our chances.
“The girls were warriors. We did everything but finish our chances.”
That warrior mindset is one thing Lovell said she will remember about this Camas team, a squad that depended upon underclassmen in significant roles because of injuries — including to senior goalkeeper Andrea Soderberg and senior forward Janae Benson.
“If you dig down deep in the hearts of all our teammates, we all have this warrior inside of us,” Lovell said. “The second half we finally brought it out.”
“We just had a more attacking mindset (in the second half),” Camas co-captain Lauren Oljar said. “We got fired up at halftime and realized there is no reason for us to be intimidated by them.”
Camas created four scoring chances in a 12-minute span beginning when sophomore Rachel Gibson nearly converted from a counter attack with 23 minutes left in the second half. Mikaela Norrish, Oljar, and Courtney Loewen forced Shoreline to make big defensive plays — including a goal-saving block from a defender on a Loewen rebound chance.
Lovell even forced Shorecrest goalkeeper Frida Swensen to make a save on a free kick in the final seconds of regulation play.
Neither team created a high-quality chance during the 10 minutes of overtime, forcing the match to be decided on penalty kicks. Kicking first, the Papermakers twice had a lead. But Shorecrest won by converting four of its five PKs.
“It was good to end on a challenging game, and to know that everybody fought really hard and it went down to the final kick,” Oljar said. “It wasn’t like we just gave it away.
“It’s just really sad to end. (High school) goes by fast.”
