A pair of shutouts — and a pair of state girls soccer playoff berths.
For top-ranked Kentwood and upset-minded Tahoma, it was as clear as that in last weekend’s Class 4A West Central District playoffs.
The Conquerors continued with their customary stingy defense, fending off Gig Harbor on Saturday at Bethel High School, 1-0. Just a couple hours earlier on the same Art Crate Stadium field, Tahoma stunned third-ranked Beamer, 2-0.
Both district games were winner-to-state, loser-out.
Kentwood will be making its fourth straight state trip. The Conquerors (16-0-2) opened state at 7 p.m. Wednesday at French Field against Shorewood.
Tahoma (10-4-4) was at Issaquah.
Despite their No. 1 ranking, Kentwood had a difficult time with Gig Harbor.
“They outplayed us for the majority of the game,” Conquerors coach Aaron Radford said. “We had a couple spurts where we had some good looks, but that was about it.”
It took the Conquerors almost all of regulation to finally put one between the pipes. Shannon McNally deposited Kentwood’s lone goal in the 74th minute on an assist from Laura Moore. McNally’s goal just made it inside the upper right-hand corner of the net.
Megan Walburn and Courtney Johnson combined for the shutout, the duo’s 15th of the season.
“I’m hoping our team can play a little better (tonight against Shorewood),” Radford said.
While Kentwood did what was expected, the Bears pulled off the surprise of the tournament with a victory against Beamer. The Titans, top-ranked for most of the year, lost to Kentwood in last week’s South Puget Sound League championship match.
On Saturday, Beamer couldn’t solve the Bears, either.
“It was very big,” Tahoma coach Corinne Welch said . “The girls have just had two great, strong tournament games. (Against Beamer) they completely played all over the field for that win.”
Molly Picha got the Bears on the board in the 46th minute, converting a penalty kick. Nearly 20 minutes later, junior midfielder Kaylee Osterman put one in unassisted.
“They seem to play better under pressure and against stronger teams,” Welch noted.
Kaila Wilkinson and Amber Woolcock combined in goal for Tahoma’s shutout.
