Skyline has stood between Tahoma and a 4A girls soccer state championship each of the past four seasons with the Spartans getting the better of the Bears three times.
A 2-1 loss to Skyline Nov. 16 ended an undefeated season and aspirations for Tahoma’s first girls soccer state title since 2005.
The Bears bounced back the next afternoon beating the Papermakers from Camas 1-0 for third place but it was not the trophy the team aspired to.
In 2009, Skyline knocked Tahoma out in the first round. In 2010 Tahoma exactly revenge, beating Skyline in the semifinals, only to lose in a shootout against league rival Kentwood. A year ago, the Spartans and the Bears squared off in the semifinal, with Skyline putting Tahoma away 2-0.
This year, Skyline went on to beat its own cross town rival, Issaquah in the championship match.
Coming into the semifinal game against Skyline, Tahoma boasted a perfect 20-0 record after crushing Snohomish in the first round of state then holding off a scrappy Curtis team in the second round.
It was the Spartans, however, who were ready to make a statement when Amanda Johnston put the ball into the net for Skyline a mere 22 seconds in the match.
“Twenty-three seconds of unfocused play … did us in,” wrote head coach Jason Johnson in an email. “We all got caught off guard on a quick start.”
Tahoma battled but couldn’t score before halftime. Things took a turn for the better for the Bears when they scored off a corner kick. Sophomore Taylor Clarin put the ball in the net after Brie Hooks sent the ball in. It dropped and bounced around for a bit, but Clarin, who seems to have a knack for being in the right place at the right time on set pieces pushed it in to knot the score up in the 54th minute.
Skyline responded, though, in the 58th minute when Lianna Sims sent the ball over to Bianca Saint who put the Spartans ahead of the Bears for good when her shot found the back of the net.
Tahoma did not give up after that but couldn’t seem to get past Skyline’s goal keeper who made several solid saves despite the Bears attacks and set pieces.
In the third place game Tori Tappero scored the lone goal — off of an assist from Hooks, who plans to play at Colorado — for Tahoma over Camas to help the Bears earn their third trophy in three years.
There are 11 seniors on this year’s squad which won the South Puget Sound League North and finished 21-1.
Even though Tahoma’s title dreams did not come true, Johnson wrote, it was an incredible season.
“I’m very happy about the season overall,” Johnson wrote. “My girls did some really amazing things. I just wished for a different finish for them. This is going to be a season to remember. So many wonderful achievements by these kids. I’m just so proud of them.”
