Camas beats Issaquah on penalty kick shootout to claim state soccer title
Papermakers claim their third state championship in girls soccer
By Tim Martinez, Columbian
Assistant Sports Editor
Published: November 20, 2021, 8:58pm
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The Camas girls soccer team hoists the championship trophy after beating Issaquah 1-0 in overtime on penalty kicks on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021 (Tim Martinez/The Columbian)
PUYALLUP – Keri Tomasetti has a few more gray hairs.
But the Camas Papermakers have a state championship.
That’s a fair price to pay.
Playing in their first penalty-kick shootout in three seasons, the Papermakers converted four of five PK attempts and junior Keely Wieczorek came up with two huge saves, lifting Camas over Issaquah in the Class 4A girls soccer state championship match on Saturday night.
“All season long, I’ve been telling the girls they’ve been giving me more and more gray hairs because they like to wait to the last second to solidify it all,” Tomasetti said. “So I guess this was just the icing on the cake. Let’s just wait to the VERY last second we possibly could to put it away. But they did.”
Camas and Issaquah played ninety minutes of scoreless soccer, setting the stage for the penalty-kick shootout.
Even though it was her first PK shootout since her freshman year, Wieczorek said she was ready for it.
“It’s kind of just go into it with confidence,” said the junior, who had five saves during regulation and overtime. “It’s all about the confidence and the mindset going into that. Because if you’re going into it down on yourself and too nervous about it (you won’t succeed). Nerves are a good thing and you can use that to your advantage. But if you come in with confidence and believe you’re going to make the save or make the shot, you can do it.”
The first five attempts went into the back of the net – three by Camas’ Maya Parman, Lily Loughney and Madeline Johnson and two by Issaquah’s Lauren Lalley and Avery Crowe.
Then Wieczorek made a diving save against Issaquah’s Jensyn Lins. But Camas’ fourth shot sailed high, giving the Eagles’ new hope.
Then Wieczorek came up with another save against Ruby May.
“We were all just hoping so bad, and when she did that, I can’t even describe how it felt,” Parman said. “It was just like an opportunity opened up. And then to make that second save too, I couldn’t be prouder of her. She’s amazing.”
Junior Nora Melcher then stepped up and sealed the victory for Camas, setting off a celebration.
“I was so excited,” Wieczorek said. “Just so excited, so proud of Nora. I’ve known Nora for years. And just having the excitement from the team, just that big dog pile in the end, it’s just so surreal.”
It was Camas’ third state championship for girls soccer, but first for Tomasetti, who is in her third season as head coach. The Papermakers won a 4A title in 2016 and a 3A crown in 2005.
Parman expected the Papermaker (22-0) to avoid the shootout by scoring a goal in regulation.
“I totally thought we would,” Parman said. “It just didn’t’ turn out that way. During the second half we were attacking like crazy, and we had all those opportunities. It just wasn’t falling for us in that moment. And it ended up working out perfectly in the end, just like we planned.”
Well, maybe the plan didn’t include a penalty-kick shootout and the extra stress that comes with that.
“I mean, I love the pressure,” Wieczorek said. “This team thrives under pressure. We have so much grit. We’ve shown that throughout the season. And tonight, it just kind of came down that grit. We had more of it, and we deserve that championship. We earned it, all season long.”
And with that, Tomasetti can agree, even if it came with a few more gray hairs.
“Their resiliency all season long is just phenomenal,” Tomasetti said. “They are just an amazing group of young ladies, every single player. And I couldn’t be more proud.”
