River, more than anything, wanted to join it.
“We were hungry for the win,” said River senior defender Josie Van Tilburg.
But a 1-0 (4-2 penalty kicks) win by Sehome in Friday’s state semifinal ended that chance for the Chieftains after zero goals in 80 minutes of regulation and two 5-minute golden-goal overtimes.
Sehome connected on four of five penalty kicks in the shootout to advance to Saturday’s state title game against a Liberty, which is making its three straight title-game appearance at Shoreline Stadium after shutting out Burlington-Edison Friday.
River is guaranteed its third consecutive state trophy. It gets Burlington-Edison at noon Saturday for third place.
River has seen this script before on this stage. Two years ago, Van Tilburg, and a host of other now-seniors, were sophomores on the 2016 state title-winning team that defeated Liberty 3-2 (3-2 PKs) in a shootout for its first state title at 2A.
Friday at Shoreline Stadium, the script flipped in favor of Sehome.
Senior goalkeeper Liz Canton, who played made three first-half saves, and re-entered the game for the second overtime and shootout, sees the pluses and minuses on both sides of a shootout result. Canton saved Sehome’s fourth attempt in the shootout, but River was a mere inches wide of the goal on consecutive kicks.
“We all played our hearts out today,” Canton said. “We didn’t deserve to lose this game. Losing in PKs is the worst way to lose, because one tiny mistake costs you the whole game you worked your butt off during.”
The limited first-half chances to create scoring opportunities, including just one shot on goal, was reversed for River in the final 40 minutes. Of River’s six corner kicks, four came in the second half and held off a Mariners team, like River, trying to get a goal past the back line of defense.
By now, River’s late-season success, especially defensively, has been well-documented. Its defense still hasn’t allowed a goal all postseason — that’s six games and counting — while outscoring opponents 12-0 in that same stretch.
Looking at the glass half full, that’s exactly what coach Filly Afenegus preached to his team postgame.
And that’s why players like Van Tilburg, who made the second of two penalty kicks for River, was beaming about the team she played with Friday: the same team that had a lineup shuffling mid-season with a record of 6-4-1 through 11 games to a season-high seven-game winning streak entering Friday.
“I couldn’t be any more prouder of any team I’ve ever played with,” Van Tilberg said. “We win as a family, and lose as one. That’s the most important thing, for sure.”
