By ERICK WALKER

The Reporter

The final month of soccer practice paid off for Tahoma’s Savannah Johnson on Wednesday night.

Because during the final 30 minutes of those practices, Johnson and her teammates worked on nothing but shootouts and penalty kicks.

Today, Johnson couldn’t be happier about the extra attention given to shootouts. Because on Wednesday at Everett Memorial Stadium in a Class 4A state opener against Issaquah, all that practice was put to use.

The Bears, behind Johnson’s final attempt in a shootout, held off the Eagles, 2-1. Tahoma won the shootout, 4-3.

“We practiced penalty kicks after every one of our practices for the last month,” said Johnson, a senior. “So I was extremely confident in myself. It really is just focus. I told myself to do it like I always did.”

And Johnson, along with the Bears, did just that.

With the win, Tahoma (11-4-4) advances to a state quarterfinal matchup against seventh-ranked Jackson (15-1-3). The Bears will travel to Everett Memorial Stadium for a 5 p.m. showdown on Saturday against the Wolves.

Jackson, which took second in the WesCo South, upended Stadium on Tuesday, 4-1. The Wolves have won 12 straight games.

Meanwhile, Tahoma enters the match having won three straight loser-out contests.

“It is just a huge success for us,” Johnson said. “We had a pretty strong season and toward the end of the year everything clicked. All the girls have come together.”

Indeed.

Tahoma is making its first trip to the state tournament since 2005, when it won the title.

On Wednesday, Molly Picha helped Tahoma get on the board immediately, scoring on an unassisted goal in the first minute, giving the Bears a 1-0 lead.

That’s where it would stay until the 78th minute, when Issaquah’s Dayna Talley knotted things up at 1-1 with an unassisted goal of her own.

After a pair of five-minute, sudden-death overtimes, the score remained tied.

Tahoma goalkeeper Kaila Wilkinson proved just tough enough between the pipes, stopping a pair of Issaquah attempts in the shootout.

Tied 3-3 in the shootout, Johnson sealed the victory on Tahoma’s final attempt.

And after the win?

“It was the biggest celebration we’ve ever had,” Johnson said. “We were all screaming and crying. We really are underdogs. We haven’t been ranked all year, but we know we’re a good team. Our team has a lot of skilled players.

“It was good to just pull it all together.”

The winner of Saturday’s game advances to the quarterfinals and will play the winner of the Shorewood/Woodinville showdown on Nov. 21.