Kentlake blanks Kent-Meridian

BOYS SOCCER

When it rains it pours.

But in the case of the Kentlake High boys soccer team, the Falcons look for a Shour.

And that’s exactly what they received Friday night at French Field. Behind another big performance by senior forward Allen Shour, Kentlake turned back Kent-Meridian 3-0 in a South Puget Sound League North Division game.

Shour, who has been one of the league’s nicest surprises so far, scored in the seventh minute, added another tally in the 41st minute and capped off a big night with an assist to Tyler Wright in the 57th minute to account for Kentlake’s final score of the game.

It was Shour’s second two-goal game of the season and brings his overall total to seven.

“He continues to be impressive,” said Kentlake coach Kyle Jones.

The win essentially keeps the Falcons in the thick of the SPSL North playoff race. The top four teams advance to the postseason. Heading into play Tuesday night, Kentlake (5-4-1, 16) was tied in the win and point columns for fourth place with Tahoma (5-3-1, 16 points) and Kentwood (5-3-1, 16). In addition, KL, KW and Tahoma were five points behind Jefferson (6-1-3, 21) and Auburn Riverside (6-1-3, 21), which entered the week two points behind first-place Kentridge (7-1-2, 23).

“Usually we start to see some separation in the league at this point but it is going to be a battle until the very last match,” Jones said.

The loss to Kentlake dropped Kent-Meridian to 0-10-0 this season.

But it hasn’t been because of a lack of effort, coach Brian Gabert said.

“We’ve been close a lot of times,” Gabert noted. “It’s 0-0 at half and then we get (beat) in the second half.”

It was the seventh-straight time the Royals have been shutout. However, they have hung with some of the top teams in the league, which includes 1-0 losses to both Tahoma and Kentwood. In a constantly changing lineup, Fermin Samario, Jordan Roberts, James Ward and Meninder Dulai have been rock-solid, Gabert said.

Samario scored Kent-Meridian’s lone goal this year on an assist from Roberts.

“We have goals that we want to reach and we have to keep working,” Gabert added.