EDMONDS — One of the luxuries that comes with having an offense as powerful as Edmonds-Woodway’s is the ability to score against the run of play, without having the majority of possession.
The Warriors (7-2-0 league, 10-3-0 overall) proved that in a 3-0 Wesco 3A South victory over upstart Mountlake Terrace on Tuesday night at Edmonds Stadium, a match that the visiting Hawks controlled for the first 25 minutes of action.
It was the seventh straight victory for Edmonds-Woodway, which hasn’t been defeated since losing to Shorecrest on Sept. 23.
Mountlake Terrace (5-4-1, 6-6-2) took it to the Warriors in the early going, winning most of the 50-50 balls and peppering Edmonds-Woodway goalkeeper Kiera Towell with shots, but the Hawks couldn’t find the finishing touch.
In the 27th minute, the Warriors finally got hold of the ball with time to operate and advanced it forward with quick passes. Rylee Peterson’s first-touch pass found the foot of Madison Schultz, who zinged it low and hard past goalkeeper Alexis McRae to get Edmonds-Woodway on the board.
“It showed us that if we settle down and knock the ball around like we’re capable of doing, we can move through teams that way,” Edmonds-Woodway coach Bill LeCompte said of the first goal. “It took us 30 seconds to move the ball 80 yards. We’re explosive in transition.”
The Hawks kept pushing forward despite the 1-0 deficit, with senior forward Lily Hart the point of the spear.
In the waning moments of the first half, Isabel Kembel’s low drive was parried away by Towell, who came all the way across the face of goal to preserve the lead. It was the first of several top-quality saves the University of Pennsylvania commit made on Tuesday to earn her fifth clean sheet during the Warriors’ seven-game winning streak.
“Kiera is one of the top keepers in our state, and she saved us more than a couple of times tonight,” LeCompte said. “She did a great job reading and responding.”
Edmonds-Woodway added a second goal shortly after the second half began, as Schultz drove on McRae’s goal, beating a defender on her way to an easy finish for her second tally of the match.
The University of North Carolina commit has scored in each of the Warriors’ seven consecutive wins.
Towell just got her fingertips to a shot by Mountlake Terrace’s Julia Hart in the 53rd minute, and tipped an effort by Lily Hart over the crossbar six minutes later to preserve the shutout.
Peterson tacked on a third goal for Edmonds-Woodway in the 64th minute, heading in a corner kick from Ashleigh Fonsen.
Although the Hawks came out on the losing end, coach Evan Hatch was pleased with the way that his team played against an Edmonds-Woodway side that boasts four NCAA Division I commits in Schultz, Towell, Fonsen (Oregon State) and Peterson (Nevada).
“We don’t have a lot of experience dominating possession the way we did early on, and we weren’t sure what to do with it,” he said. “I was pleased with the way that we played against such a strong team.”
LeCompte liked the way the Warriors responded in the second half, but said they still have work to do to reach their potential.
“We have to play a little bit cleaner. Mountlake Terrace is a high-energy, talented group and we have to do a better job responding to that,” he said. “We weren’t very disciplined on defense tonight. It didn’t hurt us, but it should have. We still need to clean up some stuff.”
At Edmonds Stadium
Goals—Madison Schultz (E-W) 2, Rylee Peterson (E-W). Assists—Gabby Clark (E-W), Ashleigh Fonsen (E-W). Goalkeepers—Mountlake Terrace: Alexis McRae. Edmonds-Woodway: Kiera Towell. Records—Mountlake Terrace 5-4-1 league, 6-6-2 overall. Edmonds-Woodway 7-2-0, 10-3-0.
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