Jack Kolosvary didn’t need many words to explain how significant the win was for the Columbia River boys soccer team.
The senior captain’s look of pride spoke volumes.
“I have goosebumps,” he said. “I’m just so proud of our resiliency, our effort, our heart.”
Not since 2014 has a team other than Archbishop Murphy won the Class 2A state championship.
There will be a new champion this year.
With a 3-1 win over Archbishop Murphy in the state quarterfinals Saturday at Kiggins Bowl, undefeated Columbia River is a step closer to claiming that newly vacated throne.
“Archbishop Murphy has always been the team to beat,” Kolosvary said. “Three-time state champions, it’s not an easy feat to actually dethrone them. Preparation and effort becomes this result.”
Now Columbia River is headed to the state semifinals for the first time. The Chieftains (21-0) face Franklin Pierce of Tacoma on Friday in Sumner.
They’ll go there coming off a game in which they were both assertive and resilient.
River controlled the first half with an aggressive, pressing style. Jacob Warthen gave the Chieftains a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute when he headed in Jackson Kleier’s long free kick.
“I know my teammates are going to fight their hearts out to get on that ball,” Kleier said. “It’s worked throughout the season and it worked tonight.”
But their opponents from Everett showed renewed vigor in the second half, tying the game just eight minutes after the break.
“There are teams that fold in those moments,” River coach Filly Afenegus said. “But for us to be able to persevere through that time and get two more goals, that exemplifies the character we have on this team.”
Kleier scored the go-ahead goal with 19 minutes remaining. It was a slow roller that looked like a pass to Julian Villa-Salas or Conner Brewer, who were crashing toward the goal. Kleier was surprised when the ball trickled just inside the left post.
“I kind of just put it in there,” he said. “Luckily it went in.”
Archbishop Murphy (13-5-2) pressed forward, searching for a tying goal as the match grew increasingly physical and chippy.
But River’s Jake Connop put the game out of reach in the final two minutes, scoring from close range amid a goal-mouth scrum.
It set off a frenzy among both the Chieftains’ onfield players and those on the bench. A team that returned all 11 starters moved further past the sting of a first-round playoff exit last year.
That, plus having reached the quarterfinals two years ago, provided valuable experience for a team with 10 seniors.
“It plays a big part in winning games like this,” Afenegus said. “They understand what it takes to grind out games like this. They’ve been battle-tested.”
Now River is where it has never been. But Afenegus said the Chieftains won’t change anything headed into the semifinals and possibly the championship match the following day.
What the Chieftains are doing is working just fine, as their unbeaten record shows.
“We spend a lot of time talking about our core values — effort, attitude, those types of things,” Afenegus said. “In games like this, what it comes down to is character. Do you have the ability to grind it out?”
