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LAKEWOOD -- The Kamiakin girls soccer team rolled into Lakewood on Thursday with 14 straight wins and hopes of the first state championship in program history.
But the Braves' victory train came to a screeching halt at Harry E. Lang Stadium with a 3-1 loss to Issaquah, but not necessarily because the Eagles were a better team.
Mostly, it was because Kamiakin couldn't get enough people on board.
"We didn't play our best," said Jori Skorpik, a Kamiakin senior forward. "It all comes down to heart, and not everybody was there to put it up."
Kamiakin (18-2-1) will face Kentwood (16-1-4) in the consolation final at noon today. Issaquah (17-2) will play Skyline (17-4-0) for the 4A championship at 4 p.m.
The Braves will play for their fifth trophy finish in school history. They have finished second twice and fourth twice -- the last time in 2006.
Kamiakin put up a strong fight in the first half, tying the game at 1 in the 26th minute on Emilee Meyer's header off a Skorpik cross from the left flank. It was the first point of the playoffs for Skorpik, who had 20 goals and eight assists in the regular season to earn CBBN co-MVP honors.
"It wasn't just an ordinary goal, either," Skorpik said. "She headed it right in the side of the net, and it was like, 'Yes, we're back in this!' "
At that point, the Braves had been every bit Issaquah's equal on the field.
"We had the momentum at that point, but we needed to mark up better," said Braves coach Chris Erikson. "
Kristen Maris then put the Eagles back on top 2-1, heading a cross from Margaret Rauch inside the near post in the 38th minute.
Then, for whatever reason, some of the Braves stopped believing.
"After we figured out we could play with them in the first half, we were fine," Meyer said. "Then we came out in the second half, and people weren't winning balls. We couldn't get it back to our half."
Issaquah outshot Kamiakin 13-7 but only recorded three shots in the second half, presumably after packing in the defense after taking the lead.
Maris scored the first two goals for the Eagles and assisted on the third. The senior forward has a chance to give Issaquah its fourth state championship in the last six seasons. The Eagles won 3A state championships in 2004, 2006 and 2007. Maris played on the 2007 squad.
"Kristen is awesome. She's been that way all season," said Issaquah coach Tom Bunnell. "I challenged her to get 20 goals this season and told her we'd probably need a deep playoff run to do it. She got her 20th today (on her second goal)."
Meanwhile, Skorpik was a virtual one-woman show, challenging the defense by charging hard into Issaquah territory and giving her teammates opportunities to penetrate.
"The thing about Jori is, the tougher the game, the harder she plays," Erikson said. "She has the ability to put (defenders) under so much pressure that she can create."
But the team's eight seniors believed that Kamiakin had the ability to post a much stronger finish, so there was some disappointment among the upperclassmen.
"The seniors wanted (a state title) more than anything. This is us, this is our year," Meyer said. "We'll get over it. We can always try again tomorrow. The next best thing is third place."
