SAMMAMISH – Sarah Yang enjoys playing in the rain. So does Julia Coombs.
Yang, Coombs and their teammates on the Camas girls soccer team certainly were all smiles at the end of a soggy Saturday night in Sammamish.
Yang scored two goals and Coombs made two big saves as the Papermakers beat host Skyline 2-1 to advance to the semifinals of the Class 4A girls soccer state tournament. Camas will play an 8 p.m. semifinal on Friday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup against Issaquah.
“I love playing in rain,” said Coombs. “I love living in Washington. This is great weather.”
It was a great result for a Camas team that had to survive a late scare from Skyline.
The Papermakers’ odds of winning on Saturday looked pretty good after Yang’s second goal of the game made it 2-0 Camas with a half-hour left. But the final 10 minutes were tense after the Spartans scored to pull within one.
“Stressful. It was so stressful,” Camas senior midfielder Rylee MacDonald said. “We had to keep communicating. We were everywhere, unorganized at times, but then we got back organized. That last 5 minutes we worked together as a team to make sure they didn’t get a goal.”
It took a save from goalkeeper Coombs on a free header by Skyline’s Gabby Hart in stoppage time to secure the win. It was her fifth save of the night, and was the result of perfect positioning as the ball came right to her.
“I saw her getting ready for it and I knew I had to get set,” said Coombs, who tracked a cross that found Hart open to the goalkeeper’s right. “The ball just came to me. I just found it in my hands and it was just great.”
The junior goalkeeper made a tough save in the first half, leaping to deflect a hard shot from distance over the bar. At 5-foot-31/2, Coombs said she is used to opponents trying to beat her high.
“I just got set and got ready. I saw it coming and stuck my hand up there praying that I would get contact and I did,” she said.
Camas coach Roland Minder expected the game to be won in the midfield, and it was. For much of the night, the Papermakers won possession of contested balls, keeping the Spartans from flooding players forward. And both goals were set up by smart midfield play.
The first one came in the 21st minute. Attacking midfielder Sabine Postma took advantage of space on the left wing and delivered a low ball across the 6-yard box.
“A couple of people shanked at it and it came to me and I got my foot in it,” Yang said. “I was so happy to see it go into the back of the net.”
Yang’s speed produced her second goal. MacDonald looped a long diagonal ball forward and Yang got to the ball just before goalkeeper Molly Monroe.
“I got a little touch and it kind of ricocheted off the keeper and went in the goal,” Yang said.That bounce provided the cushion that a half hour later made sure it was the Papermakers’ night.
CAMAS 2, SKYLINE 1
Camas (19-1-1)
Goals (assists) – Sarah Yang (Sabine Postma), Yang (Rylee McDonald). Goalkeeper saves – Julia Coombs 5.
Skyline
Goals (assists) – Emma Rohleder (unassisted). Goalkeeper saves – Anna Smith 4, Molly Monroe 2.
Halftime score – Camas 1-0.
