SNOHOMISH — Glacier Peak head coach Kyle Veach said the Snohomish-Glacier Peak soccer game was a great moment for the Snohomish community to come together and watch as the crosstown rivals battled it out.
And while he said that was the most important thing, Veach also admitted that both teams wanted the victory.
Tanner Corrie ensured the Panthers got the victory over their rival for the second-straight season by scoring a goal in the 50th minute. Uriel Herrera assisted on the score as Snohomish hung on to defeat the Grizzlies 1-0 Saturday night at Glacier Peak High School.
“I think that’s a great part about the community,” Veach said. “Unfortunately, Snohomish won tonight. But you look, as a whole, this is a rich area for soccer. You see it with the stands being completely filled. It’s a great piece for the community. That’s really important. It’s a great community tool that we have. There’s a lot of kids playing soccer.”
The community feel was on display before the game even started, when both teams circled around midfield for a pregame chant.
“They put this together for this club team. Well, all their players play on the same club,” Snohomish head coach Dan Pingrey said. “It was great to see them all get together and have some fun doing that.”
Aside from being a crosstown battle, the game featured two of the best teams in the area. Snohomish (11-1 overall) currently leads the Wesco 4A North while Glacier Peak (8-2-2) is tied for second in a tough Wesco 3A South league.
The game provided a good test for both teams, which are hoping to make deep playoff runs.
“It’s a great gauge for us,” Veach said. “But so is just the Wesco (3A) South in general. We’ve got a lot of good teams. We have three really good teams — four including us. We get a lot of good looks. So it’s always great to get another nonleague gauge of where we are.”
The game was a hard-fought battle right from the opening kickoff. Both teams had scoring chances, but were unable to find the back of the net in the first half.
Corrie changed that in the 50th minute when Connor Raney passed the ball to Herrera, who slid it out to Corrie for a shot from about 25 yards. The ball hit the far post and ricocheted into the net for Snohomish, which defeated Glacier Peak 4-2 in last season’s matchup.
“We knew no one was going to run away with it,” Veach said. “They finished their chance and we didn’t finish our chances.”
The Grizzlies put pressure on Snohomish right up until the final whistle. Glacier Peak’s Michael McKinney found himself with an opportunity from just inside the 18-yard line, but the ball sailed just high of the goal.
Snohomish goalkeeper Ryan Peters kept every other Glacier Peak attempt out of the net.
“They’re different than what we’ve seen. They’re fast and they’re strong and they’re athletic,” Pingrey said. “… It was a good match, a good battle. It’s good to see a different kind of team and be able to play against a squad like that. It just helps us be better in the long run, too.”
Saturday’s game was the second in as many nights for Snohomish, which defeated Monroe 10-0 on Friday night. Pingrey said the back-to-back contests meant he had to rest some players and rotate in others.
The Snohomish coach was very pleased with the younger members of his team preserving the close victory.
“We were just getting guys cramped. It’s tough when you’re playing the night after a game,” Pingrey said. “The starters got to play most of the first half, which was good, and then we had to start rotating them because their legs were just giving out on them. But it was fun because all the youngsters got to play. And they got to play a lot. They got to hold down a 1-0 lead. I enjoyed that.
“It was good for them. It was a good battle.”
Veach praised the energy of senior Sam Hryciuk, who came off the bench with a spark of energy for the Grizzlies. He also complimented junior Greyden Saunders and his ability to create scoring opportunities.
“There were a lot of positives,” Veach said. “Even though it’s a loss, there’s a lot of positives with tonight. We had lots of chances. I just wish one had went in.”
At Glacier Peak H.S.
Goals—Tanner Corrie (S). Assists—Uriel Herrera (S). Goalkeepers—Snohomish: Ryan Peters. Glacier Peak: Lucas MacMillan. Records—Snohomish 11-1 overall. Glacier Peak 8-2-2.
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