Northwest Christian Stopped In State Semifinals
The frustration began for Northwest Christian with just 3 minutes left in the first half and it continued through the Crusaders’ final shot.
The end result was a 4-1 defeat to Seattle Christian in the semifinals of the U.S. Bank/WIAA State A/B boys soccer tournament at Shoreline Stadium Friday afternoon.
Northwest Christian (13-2-1) faces Lynden Christian (9-2), which lost to Bellevue Christian 4-3 in overtime, at 10 a.m. today for third and fourth places. Seattle Christian (16-0) meets Bellevue Christian (16-1) for the championship at 4 p.m.
With the game tied at a goal apiece, NWC coach Ray Underwood hoped to go into the break even with the wind at the Crusaders’ backs for the second half. Those hopes faded as Seattle Christian netted two goals in the final 2:40 of the first half.
“That killed us,” Underwood said. “It’s frustrating.”
Much of Underwood’s frustration centered around the official’s calls.
“Three of their four goals were direct results of calls,” Underwood said. “The kids still played hard and they played hard right to the end.”
Brian Yokers put the Warriors on top 1-0 with a penalty kick 11:00 into the game.
The Crusaders answered 5 minutes later with a goal by Steve Warren off an assist from Paul Mortlock.
Seattle Christian then struck for their two decisive goals. Jeremy Knutson scored in the 37th minute and Jacob Litowitz put the Warriors up 3-1 with just 40 seconds left in the first half.
“We got our heads down after that point,” said Northwest Christian senior Jim Marr.
Northwest Christian did pick up the pace in the second half, but still was outshot by Seattle Christian 7-5.
The Crusaders nearly scored with 15 minutes remaining when senior Matt McComas sent in a shot from 12 yards out. Seattle Christian keeper Cory Smith denied the Crusaders with a diving save to his right. Moments later, McComas knocked a header toward the Seattle Christian net, but again was denied.
Seattle Christian senior Lucas Litowitz finished the scoring, kicking in a rebound off a shot by Knutson.
The frustration wasn’t over for the Crusaders, however. In the final minute, two Northwest Christian goals were called back.
The first, scored by Jake Proffitt, was nullified because of an offside call. On the final play of the game, Marr scored on a penalty kick, but had to rekick when the referee ruled a Crusaders player stepped into the penalty box early.
His rekick was saved by Smith.