Ahead at halftime, the Columbia River boys soccer team confidently jogged to the locker room.
Kennedy Catholic’s players, meanwhile, stewed on their sideline bench and cursed their poor play.
But everything changed when the second half began.
Columbia River suffered a five-goal onslaught during the second half of a 5-2 loss in the Class 3A bi-district playoffs Thursday at Kiggins Bowl.
The loss means River (8-5-4) will play a winner-to-state, loser out game Saturday in Burien against Auburn Riverside.
“I’m excited to see how these guys respond in the next game,” River coach Filomon Afenegus said. “I think they’ll handle it well. I think we need to be honest with ourselves. We need to address what happened and have a productive mindset.”
Kennedy (17-1-4) secured a state-tournament berth. The Seattle school advanced to the bi-district championship game Saturday in Burien against Central Kitsap.
Columbia River, however, struck first Thursday.
Just four minutes in, Kennedy goalkeeper Sam Carballo misplayed the ball as it bounced off the turf. River’s Cody Schoene tapped the loose ball to Ryan Connop, who scored from a few yards out.
The early lead energized River’s defense, which withstood a handful of dangerous attacks late in the first half.
But on a cloudless evening, it began to rain goals once the second half began.
Kennedy needed less than a minute to tie the match when Jake Zwaller crossed to Aaron Rosel for a close-range finish.
Five minutes later, the Lancers took a 2-1 lead. They put together three nice passes after a corner kick to set up a close-range header by Kaiden Braun.
River struck back two minutes later when Jack Kolosvary rocketed a low shot inside the left post.
But from then on, it was all Kennedy. Just one minute later, Braun scored his second goal off a free kick to put the Lancers ahead 3-2.
Kennedy put the match away with two goals off corner kicks in a two-minute span midway through the second half.
Of the five goals River allowed, four were from corner kicks or free kicks.
“I thought we played pretty well in the second half, It was just set pieces,” Afenegus said. “We just turned off. I could tell we were using those opportunities to rest and relax. Credit to them, they took full advantage of it.”
River defender Brandon Castro said the Chieftains will take Thursday’s loss as a reminder not to let their guard down. Any such lapse in Saturday’s match could be a season-ender.
The senior captain, however, is confident in his team’s ability to rebound.
“The focus level has to be one-thousand percent, or we’re not going to make it,” Castro said. “I know our team is capable of doing amazing things. I’ve seen us do amazing things. When we’re focused like that, we can accomplish whatever we put our minds to.”
