The 3-1 score was deceiving. Not that the top-ranked Skyview boys soccer team cares.
By finishing the chances when they came on Wednesday, the Storm beat visiting Wenatchee and advanced to the Class 4A state quarterfinals. Skyview will face Curtis on the road, likely on Saturday at a venue to be determined.
Gabe Weber scored two first-half goals and Eric Ferris scored in the second half as the Storm won despite being outshot by the Panthers.
As usual, senior Carter Johnson was in the middle of all three Skyview goals.
“We needed to control him,” Wenatchee coach Dennis Tronson said of Johnson. “He didn’t score, but he creates so much havoc. Great players bring out great things in their teammates.”
In the 14th minute, Johnson was able to control a deflected pass with his chest and take a shot. Wenatchee goalkeeper Raphael Jimenez got a piece of the shot, but the ball fell right to Weber with an open goal in front of him.
“I noticed that they sucked everyone to their goal, so there was a little hole in the middle and I found time to get a deflected ball, chest it and hit it,” Johnson said. “Luckily, Gabe was there to tap it in.”
The Washington state Gatorade Player of the Year for a second consecutive season, Johnson’s vision set up the game’s most significant play.
In the final minute of the first half, Johnson sent a long ball forward that gave Weber a chance to run behind the defense. Weber dribbled around a defender and goalkeeper Jimenez for his second tap-in goal of the half and a 2-0 Storm lead despite Wenatchee creating seven scoring chances over the first 40 minutes.
Johnson said he was looking for a chance to exploit Wenatchee’s three-defender back line.
“If we have them stretched out, we’re going to have so much fun,” Johnson said. “I knew that (goal) was coming. Gabe did a great job getting behind his man, and then I think broke two kids’ ankles and tapped it in. Great skill by Gabe.”
Despite the lead, Skyview defender Austin Horner said the Storm knew they needed to improve in the second half.
“In the first half we were very unorganized, It wasn’t too pretty,” Horner said. “In the second half, we started to communicate more and it got more organized.”
The third Skyview goal came in the 62nd minute, with Eric Ferris putting away his chance after Johnson whipped a ball across the front of the goal.
It was the type of play Wenatchee struggled to finish. Giovanny Soto scored the Panthers’ goal in the 73rd minute by racing through the Storm defense and around goalkeeper Evan Laws.
That was Soto’s eighth attempt on goal of the game. A combination of saves from Laws, blocks by defenders, and bounces kept the Panthers from scoring earlier.
Laws finished with seven saves, none bigger than to reaction stops in the 80th minute that prevented a tense ending and ensured the Storm at least one more match.
“We’ve got (11) seniors. We love the game. We’re best friends. And we’re just coming out to have fun,” Johnson said. “We love winning, that’s even more fun. So we push each other and that’s a big reason we’ve gotten here.”
