Panthers Earn Berth To Semis

There was little doubt which team would play in next week’s State AAA soccer semifinals, but it took a late first-half goal for Mead to get its point across.

In a game with much pushing and shoving, when push came to shove, the Panthers wound up with a 3-0 victory over Pasco.

Mark Lupton’s header past Kyle Vierck with just over 1 minute remaining gave Mead a 2-0 lead at intermission.

Ryan Spidall had taken the ball near midfield, kicked it over Pasco’s defense to fellow defender Lupton, who found an open net on the left side.

“When the ball’s a little past midfield, coach tells me to take a kick to the far post. I do that to Lupton all the time. He’s probably our best header.” Spidall said.

The Panthers (18-1) will play Rogers of Puyallup (16-0-1) at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup on Friday.

In the other semifinal, Eastlake of Redmond (17-0-1) will play Woodinville (14-4-1).

Spidall’s defense was also instrumental in Mead’s dominating first half.

Twice, he stripped Pasco forward Andy Tyssen of the ball during the few times the visitors mounted an attack.

“We wanted to clear the ball when we could to the midfield,” Spidall said. “Coach wanted me on him because I’m one of the faster marking backs.”

With the winds at their back, the Panthers kept the ball in Pasco’s end of the field during the first half. They had several shots before J.J. Klaus scored on a pass from Ben Baxter with 7-1/2 minutes gone in the game.

In the second half, Pasco did a better job of challenging the ball. But the game was played mainly at midfield with defender Nick Stucky taking up the slack for Spidall, who sat after receiving a yellow card.

“We weren’t doing a good job of putting pressure on them at the beginning of the second half,” said Mead coach Dick Cullen. “Then we settled down.”

Mead’s third goal came with 12 minutes left.

A frustrated Tyssen received a yellow card with 11 minutes left. On the ensuing free kick and scramble at the goal, Klaus got behind Vierck for a shot that ricocheted in off a Pasco defender.

The win advanced Mead to the state final four for the first time since 1990.

, DataTimes