Saints top Cedarcrest 1-0 for first ever state soccer title | Slideshow
Published 7:55 pm Saturday, November 19, 2011
For the first time in school history, Interlake is home to the state champions of girls soccer.
Kirk Tavener’s Saints held off Cedarcrest 1-0 at Shoreline Stadium in the 2A state championship game on Saturday behind a second half goal off a corner kick and a defense that did not allow a goal in the playoffs.
“I don’t think that part of it has sunk in yet,” Tavener said of the scoreless stretch for his defense. “That was part of the goal. Catie and the defense didn’t want that to happen.”
Goalkeeper Catie Getzendaner, along with defenders Desiree Domini, Courtney Fedor, Tara Ghassemikia and Sarah Williams become only the third defensive group since 1997 (and second since the tournament expanded to four rounds in 2001) to keep the scoreboard stuck on zero on the route to a tournament championship.
“I had an amazing defense in front of me,” Getzendaner said. “I honestly didn’t even get that many chances.”
The Red Wolves’ best two looks of the evening skimmed just high of the crossbar and the outstretched arms of the Saints’ keeper. Most of the evening was spent in the Cedarcrest end of the field as Interlake used the speed of its defense to control the pace.
“It makes it harder for teams to defend us because we have an attacking defense,” Tavener said. “They really stepped up in the playoffs.”
The lone Interlake score of the contest came in the 41st minute when Isabel Farrell hit a corner kick that was deflected into the back of the net. The goal was credited to Emma Bergstrom, but the sophomore and leading goal scorer in the 2A/3A KingCo conference called it an own goal.
“If she didn’t touch it,” Bergstrom said. “I would have.”
Interlake outscored opponents 8-0 in five playoff games to earn the school’s second team sport title (to go with the 4A baseball trophy from 1986) and ensure a legacy for a team that players and coaches insist is something more.
“We are a family,” Farrell said. “I think it means more to these girls than any other team in the state. This is huge for Interlake especially.”
“Our whole goal was to get a banner in the gym,” Bergstrom said. “So future generation can look and see that girls soccer did something good.”
The win marked gave Tavener a state championship in his first season as Interlake head coach after coming back to the school from Lindbergh this season. Having been an assistant with the Saints previously, the win carried extra meaning and capped a season with a group he called “amazing.”
To top it all off, it was the coach’s birthday. Asked what the win meant, Tavener was emotional and succinct.
“More than you know.”
Josh Suman can be reached at jsuman@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/bellevuereporter
