4A boys soccer | Issaquah stops Rogers, 2-1, to reach quarters

ISSAQUAH — By his own estimation, Issaquah goaltender Stephen Jacobson had a quarter of a second to react, from the moment he saw the charging player in the corner of his eye until he swatted the shot out of the air.

"I just wanted to knock it down, to get a piece of it," Jacobson said.

With a little more than two minutes left, Jacobson made the save, one he absolutely had to make. If he hadn't, the most successful season in school history might not still be alive.

"This is huge," Jacobson said. "Just to get here tonight is incredible, but to win?"

A 2-1 victory over Rogers of Puyallup, in Issaquah's first state tournament game in boys soccer, kept this unlikely season going at least until Saturday. The victory, which sent them into the quarterfinals against Marysville-Pilchuck, gave the Eagles (13-5-2) a school record for wins.

"We are the hungriest team in the state," Issaquah coach Jason Lichtenberger said.

After a scoreless first half, Issaquah scored in the 50th minute on a penalty kick by Lucas Morais, who had been taken down in the goal box. Just 10 minutes later, senior defender Conner Holmes added on by heading Andrew Schubert's long throw-in into the corner of the net.

"It's important to have that security, to be two goals in front," Holmes said.

The two-goal cushion proved necessary just four minutes later when Stephen Dutson scored for Rogers (14-3-2), the only SPSL 4A team to qualify for state.

Other games

South Kitsap 3, Roosevelt 2 (shootout)

Needing a goal to extend a shootout, Roosevelt's final shot caromed off the goalpost to give sixth-ranked South Kitsap (12-3-1) a 4-3 shootout advantage at Seattle Memorial Stadium.

The Roughriders (8-6-3), at state for the first time since 2005, twice answered South Kitsap goals with goals by sophomore forward Tolga Dilek but never led.

"It's tough because I felt like we outplayed these guys," said Roosevelt coach Brian Maahs. "For it to go to this situation [a shootout] is the equivalent of a coin toss. For these guys to go out like this is a hard pill to swallow."

Both teams scored late in the first half and early in the second. Nico De La Cruz put South Kitsap up 1-0 in the 32nd minute and Dilek tied it five minutes later. Brent Ricigliano gave the Wolves a 2-1 lead seven minutes into the second half before Dilek blasted home his second goal two minutes later.

The game was interrupted by a 65-minute delay later in the second half before South Kitsap won in the shootout round 4-3.

"I feel we put them in a situation that caused them to change their game," Maahs said. "I thought that was because we did something that they couldn't defend. You get into PKs, and it's anybody's game."

Snohomish 2, Central Kitsap 1

At Silverdale Stadium, Conner Moe scored on a first-half free kick and Thomas Sheets added a second-half goal to give the No. 7 Panthers (15-4-1) a 2-0 lead, and they held on to oust Central Kitsap (11-7-1) of Silverdale.

Kamiak 5, Mead 4 (shootout)

At Albi Stadium in Spokane, Kamiak rallied with two goals in the final two minutes of regulation to tie it, then played two scoreless overtimes before outscoring Mead 5-4 in the shootout. The Knights (13-3-0) from Mukilteo advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in school history. Eighth-ranked Mead (12-4-0) had taken a 4-2 lead before the unranked Knights produced their late-game dramatics. Brian Bae scored in the 78th minute and Tyler Hawkinson's goal in the final minute — his second of the game — forced OT. Kamiak outshot Mead 10-7 overall.

Freelancer Terry Wood contributed to this report.