PUYALLUP — Penalty-kick shootouts continue to be the enemy of the Camas girls soccer program.
For the seventh time in eight such playoff deciders under coach Roland Minder, the Papermakers saw their championship dreams end. On Friday at Sparks Stadium, it was Issaquah that emerged victorious after the Papermakers and Eagles battled — really battled — to a scoreless draw.
Issaquah won the penalty kick shootout 3-2 as Eagles goalkeeper Anna Miller made saves on the final two Camas attempts.
Camas (19-2-1) will play Gonzaga Prep at noon Saturday for third place. Gonzaga Prep lost to West Valley of Yakima on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw in the other 4A semifinal.
“I don’t get it,” coach Minder said of his team’s tough luck in shootouts. “You practice it. You practice putting pressure on them. But you can’t replicate that pressure situation. That’s why you need to score in regulation — or at least in overtime.”
The closest either team came to doing that was five minutes before halftime. Anyssa De Vera took a clean header off a Perri Belzer corner, and the ball appeared to elude Issaquah goalkeeper Miller but deflected off of a defender instead of landing in the goal.
The Eagles’ best threats came from a couple of long throw-ins that bounced around within 10 yards of the goal, but the Papermakers had defenders in position to block each shot.
In the second half, Camas had one half-chance blocked by the Issaquah defense. The Eagles sent a couple of free kicks over the crossbar.
But it was the defenses that dictated the match as neither team could gain consistent possession or flow in a physically rough battle that saw Camas called for 18 fouls and Issaquah for nine.
“That might have been our most intense and physical match,” said senior defender and co-captain Mason Minder. “There were bodies flying everywhere.”
With both teams taking away space in the midfield, neither could link passes between their midfielders and forwards. The result was two teams looking for a quick ball over the top, a ploy that had little to no chance of working, especially with both teams playing conservative as field conditions became a bit slippery.
The shootout was tied 2-2, with Sabine Postma and Maddie Kemp converting for Camas. But it was Issaquah keeper Miller who made diving stops on the last two Papermaker kicks to decide it.
Coach Minder said he told his players that no individual should feel responsible for the loss.
“It’s a team sport. All 22 of us, we celebrate our wins and mourn our losses together,” Roland Minder said. “Also, I told them that this does not define who we are as a team. This doesn’t mean that they’re not a great team in my eyes, or in anybody else’s eyes.”
Mason Minder said an ice bath and rest would get her ready for Saturday’s noon match for third place. And she is confident the Papermakers will be ready to battle Gonzaga Prep.
“Oh yeah. I think we can definitely come back and play our best,” she said.
