TUMWATER — The final chapter of Columbia River’s season was a story in redemption and sending off its senior class on a happy note.
To get there, the Rapids boys soccer team had to turn the page on a disappointing loss to Burlington-Edison decided by penalty kicks in the Class 2A state semifinals.
They were in the same spot on Saturday against Sammamish after playing to a 1-1 draw through 90 minutes of regulation and overtime. With their season down to its final moments, the Rapids were determined to write the ending they wanted.
Sophomore goalkeeper Cameron Harris made two saves and PKs scored by Johnpaul Guzman, Rowen Naylor, Alex Brown and Nathan Bertolino gave River a 4-3 win in the shootout and a third-place finish at state. The Rapids’ 23 wins also tied a program-best record first set by the undefeated, state champion 2018 team.
“Yesterday (was) a really emotional loss. I know we were all feeling it,” said Bertolino, who put through the match-clinching kick. “Today, we kind of decided we could take it two ways. We could sit down, or get back up, and we tried to fight back in it.”
River scored first in regulation on an Alex Harris strike in the ninth minute, before Sammamish countered just three minutes later with an Anthony Suazo goal assisted by Abner Hernandez. River had a chance to reclaim the lead after earning a penalty kick in the 23rd minute, but Sammamish goalkeeper Christopher Miller saved the attempt.
River and Sammamish, the top two seeds in the 2A state playoffs, both went to extra time in their semifinal matchups one day prior, and were forced to do so again.
Sammamish held a 1-0 advantage through the first round after Miller saved the Rapids’ first attempt, but Cameron Harris responded by saving Sammamish’s next attempt and the fourth.
The sophomore, who joined the Rapids this spring as a first-year keeper after playing baseball in years past, evidently learned a lot from his first PK shootout in the semifinals in which Burlington-Edison scored on all five attempts.
“You just have to step into it confidently and know that you want to be that guy, you have to be the guy that makes that play,” Harris said. “Coming off of a hard loss yesterday, I thought it was only right if I did everything for my team to save it, and I did and it worked out.
“Most of it is just the team. They’ve been so inclusive and they really brought me in as a family. I give all my props to them.”
After Harris saved Sammamish’s fourth attempt to keep the score at 2-2, Brown stepped up and slotted a shot into the bottom left corner of the net to put River ahead 3-2 heading into the fifth and final round. Against Burlington-Edison, Brown’s shot was saved, which proved to be the difference in the shootout.
“It feels really good because yesterday was hard. It’s never easy to lose and that was our first game losing,” Brown said. “It feels like I got closure, especially making my PK … so that makes me feel a lot better going back home.”
After Sammamish’s Andrew Wilbert evened the score at 3-3, Bertolino stepped up and fired a low strike that Miller got a hand on, but was unable to save. The Rapids stormed the pitch for one last time with their eight seniors.
“I don’t think we could be happier,” Bertolino said with a grin afterwards. “There’s no other feeling. Not many teams end with a win, so doing that is real special.”
Current River players are well-connected to alumni of the program, some of whom were in Tumwater this weekend to watch the Rapids in the state final four, and talk often about their legacy. For this group of seniors, the list accomplishments will include winning league and district titles, getting back to the state final four after two years off during the pandemic and getting a program-tying 23 wins, in addition to all of their off-the-field contributions.
“On the field, a standard of excellence … But beyond just that, they led very selflessly, very humbly, always willing to serve, always willing to comfort other players. They’re just everything we want in senior leaders,” River head coach Filly Afenegus said. “That will definitely carry over into next year’s group. Now there’s a continued blueprint that our juniors will see on how they’re going to be able to lead next year.”
