Published: Saturday, April 10, 2010
Lake Stevens wins sixth straight boys soccer game, secures first place in Wesco North
Sellars scores twice, Otusanya hits game-winner in 3-2 victory over Snohomish
-
Jeff Faddis/ For the Herald
Lake Stevens’ (15) Nick Bylin heads the ball in front of Snohomish defender Mackenzie Nutt (back). Lake Stevens’ Vasily Bogdanoff (13) ducks to avoid the impending collision during the first half of the Vikings’ 3-2 win over the Panthers on Friday at Snohomish High School.
SNOHOMISH — Tanner Sellars picked a good game to announce his emergence onto the Western Conference North Division boys soccer scene.
Sellars, a Lake Stevens sophomore midfielder, scored his first two career goals in the first 12 minutes of the game and junior Josh Otusanya added the game-winning goal in the 59th minute as Lake Stevens beat Snohomish 3-2 Friday night at Snohomish Veterans Memorial Stadium to secure first place in the conference.
“After the first goal, my heart was rushing,” said Sellars, who also has three assists this season. “I was out of it, I was freaking out.”
The Vikings (7-1-0 league and overall), who won their sixth straight game, gave away what could have turned into a costly, momentum-shifting goal right before halftime when Snohomish forward Travis Olsen pounced on a misplayed ball by Vikings goalkeeper Tanner Eney.
A long ball was played into the box and bounced over Eney’s head right to Olsen, who was crashing the goal. The score was the senior’s first of the season and knotted the score at 2-2 in the 40th minute.
Lake Stevens responded by controlling the midfield and much of the possession in the second half while Snohomish had trouble adjusting to the fast, open style of play.
Otusanya had acres of space when he put a shot past Snohomish goalkeeper Cody Melander in the 59th minute.
“We gave away a couple of very, very silly, bad goals early on and there’s no excuse for that,” Snohomish head coach Dan Pingrey said. “They were organized and we didn’t play our game ... We didn’t settle down.”
On Otusanya’s winner, Sellars collected the ball in the defensive half of the field and slid a pass to Vasily Bogdanoff near midfield which created a 3-on-2 breakaway for the Vikings. Bogdanoff carried the ball for a few yards before finding Otusanya on the left side.
The junior had plenty of time to line up the game-winning goal, Otusanya’s second game-winner of the season and his fourth goal overall.
“When I got on the ball I just wanted to take my time and think over it and just put it in clean,” Otusanya said.
Bogdanoff, who had two assists in the game, added: “I saw both sides. I saw Nic Rowe on the right and I saw Josh on the left — Josh is yelling for it and he was definitely deserving.”
The victory sends Lake Stevens two points clear of Snohomish (6-2-1, 6-2-1) for first place in the conference with a game against third-place Marysville-Pilchuck looming next week.
“We didn’t really approach this game like it was the biggest of the season,” Lake Stevens head coach Scott Flanders said. “We felt like we played these guys tough the first time (a 1-0 Snohomish win on March 18). I’m really happy with the way my guys responded tonight, we had to persevere.”
Sellars, the sophomore with neon green cleats, found himself in a fortuitous position both times, and each time got just enough of his boot on the ball to direct it by Snohomish’s Melander.
Bogdanoff flicked a throw-in to Sellars in the fourth minute, which Sellars gently nudged around the goalkeeper.
Sellars was then able to chip a bouncing ball over Melander in the 12th minutes for his second goal of the night.
In the seventh minute, Snohomish’s Zach Crutchfield collected a loose ball at midfield and deftly slotted the ball to forward Brendon Gundry.
Gundry carried the ball, unmarked, until he unleashed a pin-point drive from 16 yards out that beat the keeper to his right side.
Sellars, a Lake Stevens sophomore midfielder, scored his first two career goals in the first 12 minutes of the game and junior Josh Otusanya added the game-winning goal in the 59th minute as Lake Stevens beat Snohomish 3-2 Friday night at Snohomish Veterans Memorial Stadium to secure first place in the conference.
“After the first goal, my heart was rushing,” said Sellars, who also has three assists this season. “I was out of it, I was freaking out.”
The Vikings (7-1-0 league and overall), who won their sixth straight game, gave away what could have turned into a costly, momentum-shifting goal right before halftime when Snohomish forward Travis Olsen pounced on a misplayed ball by Vikings goalkeeper Tanner Eney.
A long ball was played into the box and bounced over Eney’s head right to Olsen, who was crashing the goal. The score was the senior’s first of the season and knotted the score at 2-2 in the 40th minute.
Lake Stevens responded by controlling the midfield and much of the possession in the second half while Snohomish had trouble adjusting to the fast, open style of play.
Otusanya had acres of space when he put a shot past Snohomish goalkeeper Cody Melander in the 59th minute.
“We gave away a couple of very, very silly, bad goals early on and there’s no excuse for that,” Snohomish head coach Dan Pingrey said. “They were organized and we didn’t play our game ... We didn’t settle down.”
On Otusanya’s winner, Sellars collected the ball in the defensive half of the field and slid a pass to Vasily Bogdanoff near midfield which created a 3-on-2 breakaway for the Vikings. Bogdanoff carried the ball for a few yards before finding Otusanya on the left side.
The junior had plenty of time to line up the game-winning goal, Otusanya’s second game-winner of the season and his fourth goal overall.
“When I got on the ball I just wanted to take my time and think over it and just put it in clean,” Otusanya said.
Bogdanoff, who had two assists in the game, added: “I saw both sides. I saw Nic Rowe on the right and I saw Josh on the left — Josh is yelling for it and he was definitely deserving.”
The victory sends Lake Stevens two points clear of Snohomish (6-2-1, 6-2-1) for first place in the conference with a game against third-place Marysville-Pilchuck looming next week.
“We didn’t really approach this game like it was the biggest of the season,” Lake Stevens head coach Scott Flanders said. “We felt like we played these guys tough the first time (a 1-0 Snohomish win on March 18). I’m really happy with the way my guys responded tonight, we had to persevere.”
Sellars, the sophomore with neon green cleats, found himself in a fortuitous position both times, and each time got just enough of his boot on the ball to direct it by Snohomish’s Melander.
Bogdanoff flicked a throw-in to Sellars in the fourth minute, which Sellars gently nudged around the goalkeeper.
Sellars was then able to chip a bouncing ball over Melander in the 12th minutes for his second goal of the night.
In the seventh minute, Snohomish’s Zach Crutchfield collected a loose ball at midfield and deftly slotted the ball to forward Brendon Gundry.
Gundry carried the ball, unmarked, until he unleashed a pin-point drive from 16 yards out that beat the keeper to his right side.
Comments
(