It was a familiar story for the King’s Way Christian girls soccer team.
Another league title. Another district title. Another first-round exit to University Prep.
The Pumas turned a quick counter into the match’s only goal in the 51st minute as King’s Way Christian fell 1-0 in the first round of the Class 1A state tournament.
“It’s the same thing as last year,” King’s Way coach Tina Ellertson said. “Every year, teams from our district have to play those tough Seattle teams. But as we told the girls ‘If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.’ It doesn’t matter if it’s in the first round or whenever.”
The Knights finished last season with a 3-0 loss to the Pumas on the Knights’ home turf.
This year’s meeting looked like it might go differently after King’s Way withstood a barrage of strong challenges toward the end of the first half to keep the game scoreless.
“University Prep loves to pressure you and attack from the flanks,” Ellertson said. “I thought we defended well as a team. I can’t be mad with how we defended. It’s just that one time we lost our mark, they converted. That’s soccer.”
King’s Way had made a couple of strong challenges of its own early in the second half.
But the Pumas countered quickly and converted into a goal when Kai Milici scored on an assist from Clara Erickson.
“It was very typical for us,” Pumas coach Alec Duxbury said. “We have a ton of possession, but not a lot of finishes. It’s a bit frustrating for me, but I was glad when we finally broke through.”
Duxbury complimented the Knights for their refusal to quit. Despite some late challenges, King’s Way couldn’t find the net.
“We’re a young team,” Ellertson said. “We’ve got 11 freshman on the team. We’ll just learn from this and keep growing the program. I just so proud of my seniors, who carried this team this year. For four years really, they just bled navy and red.”
