The Skyview boys soccer team’s season ended earlier than the Storm would have liked.
But Skyview’s senior captains weren’t going to let Thursday’s 2-1 loss to Rogers of Puyallup in the 4A bi-district playoffs cast a pall over an otherwise successful year.
“Overall we had a great season,” senior goalkeeper Dylan De Baldo said. “This is just one game. Unfortunately, it didn’t go the way we wanted. But we did well the rest of the season, and that’s what really matters to us.”
Skyview (11-4-2) entered Thursday’s loser-out match at Kiggins Bowl coming off its second straight 4A Greater St. Helens League title. The Storm also snapped reigning 2A state champion Columbia River’s 27-match winning streak with a 2-2 draw on March 22.
“We definitely put up a good fight in league,” senior defender Mac Handley said. “We beat Camas twice. We ended early here, but I think we had good effort throughout the league.”
Skyview senior co-captain Josh Verrinder played his first game since breaking his foot on March 20. Though the midfielder would liked to have been on the field more, he was proud of the effort shown by his teammates.
“I’m so proud of these boys making it this far and putting in work,” he said.
Handley gave Skyview a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute. He scored from close range after Rogers failed to clear a free kick in front of the goal.
Rogers, the No. 4 seed from the South Puget Sound League, entered Thursday 3-10-3 on the season. But the Rams are not typical of a team with that record.
Rogers hasn’t allowed more than three goals in any match this season. The problem had been on offense, where Rogers mustered only nine goals in 16 matches.
But the Rams made the most of their limited chances. After A.J. Downey tied the match with nine minutes left in the first half, Rogers took the lead when Kaden Welsh headed in a corner kick with 25 minutes to play.
From there, Rogers relied on its cool-headed defense to blunt Skyview’s pressure.
With the win, Rogers clinched a berth in the 4A state playoffs and will play a seeding match against Tahoma or Todd Beamer on Saturday.
ROGERS-PUYALLUP 2, SKYVIEW 1
Rogers-Puyallup
Goals (assists) — A.J. Downey, Kaden Walsh. Goalkeeper saves — Austin Tugman 4.
Skyview
Goals (assists) — Mac Handley (Jacob Thompson). Goalkeeper saves — Dylan De Baldo 5.
Halftime — 1-1.
