PUYALLUP — Lakeside of Seattle made it abundantly clear that experience matters at this stage of the Class 3A state boys soccer tournament.
The Lions, in their third semifinal of the past five years, fired five shots on target in the first five minutes against the new kids and rolled to a 3-0 win over Mountain View on Friday at Sparks Stadium.
The Thunder (16-6-1), in its first semifinal since 2012, and just second in the past 25 years, felt the pressure of the unbeaten Lions (16-0-5) early.
“I think it was a bit of nerves,” Thunder coach Dustin Johnson said of the opening struggles. “Lakeside is a great team and I think we were coming into a bit of an unknown.”
The Thunder weathered the storm of the opening flurry in large part because of junior goalkeeper Cole Taylor, who made five of his six saves in the first 25 minutes. He had two point-blank stops in the opening five minutes.
“The score could have been a lot more than what it was, so at least he gave us a fighting chance,” Johnson said.
The Lions never relented, though, and with the Thunder struggling to build an attack — Mountain View had just two shots on goal in the first half — Lakeside goals were bound to come.
The Lions got on the board by way of a Joe-Joe Richardson penalty kick in the 14th minute. Richardson assisted Rafael Otero, who curled in a ball from the corner of the penalty area in the 27th minute.
And it was Richardson again in the 40th minute with a 24-yard bullet from in front of the net to make it 3-0 at the break.
“They had some really talented players out there, and their movement on and off the ball was really, really good,” Mountain View senior captain Andres Lopez-Garcia said.
In credit to the Thunder, the squad came out with a much better second half. They fired five shots on goal to Lakeside’s one in the final 40 minutes and controlled the middle of the field.
“Really, it was a mentality,” Johnson said. “Realizing we’re in the final four and there was nothing to lose; we have to put it all on the line. It kind of sunk in and that’s what we did in the second half.”
The Thunder plays for third place at 10 a.m. Saturday against Interlake of Bellevue. In his final prep game, Lopez-Garcia isn’t settling for the same slow start.
“We have to come in and fight,” he said. “We came in here with a chip on our shoulder to come show we can compete with these teams.”
LAKESIDE 3, MOUNTAIN VIEW 0
Lakeside
Goals (assists) — Joe-Joe Richardson (PK); Rafael Otero (Richardson); Richardson (Justin Blachman); Goalkeeper saves — Will Johnston 3, Leo Homar 2.
Mountain View
Goalkeeper saves — Cole Taylor 6.
Halftime — Lakeside 3-0.
