Kamiakin soccer can’t outlast Snohomish in quarterfinals

History would have favored Snohomish, a storied program with top-four finishes at the past four state tournaments. But for 78 minutes, it seemed like Saturday’s state quarterfinal game at Edgar Brown Stadium belonged to the Kamiakin High School soccer team.

And then it didn’t.

Logan Stapleton scored the equalizer for the Panthers with two minutes left, then Jason Fairhurst knocked in the game-winner in stoppage time to lift Snohomish to the 2-1 win and its fifth straight trip to the state semifinals.

For senior forward Isaiah Arechiga, who scored Kamiakin’s lone goal, it was a tough pill to swallow.

“It was tough, especially, shoot, extra time, no team expects to get two goals that fast after holding them for so long, so that was a shock,” Arechiga said.

Arechiga — who had a hat trick and two two-goal games in the Braves’ five previous postseason games — scored in the 27th minute after beating a defender off the dribble, then the Snohomish keeper with a shot off the inside of his right foot that snuck into the near post.

After trailing 1-0 at halftime, Snohomish decided to ratchet up its offensive pressure for the final 40 minutes, and successfully kept Kamiakin on its heels.

A misplayed ball by the Kamiakin back line in the 48th gave Nathan Nicholson a point-blank look at goal, but he missed high. In the 66th, Stapleton beat goalkeeper Jorge Munguia with a shot, but Kaden Shymanski made what was, for a time, the play of the game when he slid to clear the ball harmlessly out of play just in front of the goal line.

“They (the defenders) were under a tremendous amount of pressure the entire game,” Kamiakin coach Jeff Bennett said. “Lots of long throws, lots of corner kicks, constantly having to be on their toes all the way from the back line to out keeper, and even our forwards and our mids.”

But eventually the Panthers broke through when Stapleton lofted a ball from the corner that sailed over Munguia’s head and just managed to land inside the far post to tie the score at 1-all. Fairhurst’s goal came soon after, a breakaway that the senior captain tucked in the bottom right corner from 12 out.

Though a difficult way to end the season, the Braves still have a lot of reasons to smile after their magical campaign. They won just the second state playoff game in school history — 3-1 over Prairie on Tuesday — and came just minutes away from advancing to the state semifinals for the first time.

“The guys did a great job all season long,” Bennett said. “We hit our stride in the playoffs, played as a team, worked hard. ... I know the guys were working all season for this moment, thrilled to get this far.

“So we as a coaching staff are thrilled for the guys too, and we’re looking forward to next year, getting back out on the grid and seeing what we can accomplish.”

Next up for Snohomish is Gig Harbor, which beat West Seattle 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. Friday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.

This story was originally published May 20, 2017 at 7:41 PM with the headline "Kamiakin soccer can’t outlast Snohomish in quarterfinals."