Girls Soccer / 2A Semifinals -- Othello, Sultan Reach Title Game

FEDERAL WAY - With one kick, Brie Roloff had a chance to erase nearly a year of bad memories for the Othello girls soccer team.

And Roloff came through for the Huskies.

Her penalty kick with seven minutes left in regulation lifted Othello to a 2-1 victory over defending Class 2A champion Riverside in a semifinal game at Federal Way Stadium yesterday.

Othello (19-1-1) will face Sultan (14-5-0) for the championship today at 4 p.m. at Federal Way Stadium. Riverside (17-2-1) will meet Mount Baker 11-7-0) in a consolation game at 10 a.m.

Riverside of Chattaroy, near Spokane, beat Othello in last year's semifinals in a penalty-kick shootout. The Huskies figured it was payback time.

"We've thought of Riverside since Day One of practice," said Othello Coach Bernie Garza, whose team has a 16-game unbeaten streak. "We wanted to play them again - to show that we could beat them."

Othello erased a 1-0 deficit when Rachael Drouhard scored with 17 minutes remaining. With seven minutes left, Riverside was called for a hand-ball in its penalty box. There was no doubt who would take the kick for Othello. Roloff had been a perfect 4 for 4 on penalty kicks this season.

She took a quick look at the inside left goal post and sent a low, driving shot into the corner of the goal.

"I was nervous, but I knew I had made all of my other penalty shots this season," Roloff said. "I just kick it to the same spot every time, and it's gone in every time."

Sultan 3, Mount Baker 1 - Sultan liked its chances against Mount Baker. And why not? The Turks had beaten Mount Baker three times - twice during the regular season and once in the playoffs - with a 14-1 scoring advantage.

And it was status quo as the Turks scored early and often in their semifinal victory.

Sultan's Kelsie Kypreos, who scored two first-half goals, admitted feeling confident entering the game.

"We knew we had beaten them three times, so we knew we could beat them," she said. "It's not like we came in cocky, but we were confident."

Sultan outshot Mount Baker 19-7 and did most of its work in the first half while rolling up a 3-0 lead.

Kypreos, a junior forward, scored four minutes into the game and got her second goal eight minutes later. Sultan's third goal came when Stacy Harrington's shot hit Mount Baker goalkeeper Liz Merrick and deflected into the goal.

Mount Baker's only goal came on a free kick by Melissa Hansen with 10 minutes left.

Sultan will make its second consecutive Class 2A title-game appearance. The Turks lost last year's final to Riverside, 2-1.