Boys Soccer: Lake Stevens persists, wins

AUBURN — When Lake Stevens coach Scott Flanders looked out on the field six minutes into his team's Class 4A boys soccer quarterfinal game, he didn't like what he saw.

Two key players for Lake Stevens were missing. Leading scorer Wes Vanhooser missed the game with an injured knee and midfielder Espen Sagen left early with a groin injury.

But Flanders liked what he saw on scoreboard after his Vikings scored the winning goal in the 66th minute to turn back Auburn 2-1 Saturday and advance to the state semifinals.

Lake Stevens (18-2) will face South Kitsap of Port Orchard at 6 p.m. Friday at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner. Snohomish plays Mead at 8 in the other semifinal.

"We've been undermanned all year, so it was nothing new against Auburn," said Flanders. "We're not the prettiest team around, but we find a way to get it done."

Auburn (17-1-2) lost in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. The Trojans have made it to the quarterfinals six times but never reached the semis. Coach John Yorke played in four quarterfinals as a player at Auburn and now has coached in two more.

"We're knocking on the door," Yorke said. "One of these days we'll get past the quarterfinals. It just won't be this year."

Auburn entered the game undefeated because of solid defense, giving up three goals all season and never more than one in a game.

"We knew it would be a tight, defensive game," said Yorke. "I knew whoever got to two goals first would win."

Lake Stevens came up with the winning goal after a misplay by Auburn goalkeeper Alex Peterson. Ryan Warrington's free kick in the 66th minute slipped through Peterson's hands and ended up on the feet of Jordan Carter. He didn't miss his chance, sending a low, driving shot into the back of the net.

"We scored when we had the chances," said Flanders. "We knew it would be hard to score against Auburn, so we had to capitalize on our chances."

Lake Stevens led 1-0 six minutes into the game when 6-foot-4 Evan Steinruck headed in a throw-in from Brent Wise. The ball skipped off the top of Steinruck's head and over the outstretched arms of Peterson.

"He's a basketball player and knows how to use his size," said Flanders. "He's an easy guy to spot in the middle and he can get up and make plays."

Auburn tied the score with 20 minutes left in regulation when Branden Arreola took a free kick from Nick Gadomskiy and drove in a low shot to right corner.

Lake Stevens came up with the winner five minutes later.

Class 3A

Lakeside 1, at Cheney 0

Ben Salmon scored on a header in the 79th minute, and Lakeside goalkeeper Charlie Balter made a save on a Cheney penalty kick in stoppage time to preserve the Lions' quarterfinal victory on a soggy, windy afternoon. Unbeaten Lakeside (14-0-4) will play Mercer Island (14-2-3) in the semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner. The match was scoreless until senior midfielder Andrew Stamm lobbed a free kick into the box. Salmon, a senior defender, beat the Cheney keeper to the ball and headed it in.

Camas 2, Sammamish 0

At Doc Harris Stadium in Camas, the Papermakers (17-2-1) shut out the Totems (12-5-2) to return to the state semifinals for the first time since 2003, when Camas lost to Newport for the title. Camas will play Kennedy (15-3-2) in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday.

Class 2A

Archbishop Murphy 1, Port Townsend 0, shootout

At Silverdale Stadium, the Wildcats hit on three consecutive attempts after missing their first two in the penalty-kick shootout. Justin Ryan, Riley Cartwright and Alex Bickman each connected as Archbishop Murphy (15-5-5) won the shootout 3-1.