Lake Washington frustrated after conference loss to Liberty | Girls prep soccer

It's been a tough week for the Lake Washington High girls soccer team.

By John William Howard • October 21, 2016 3:10 am
Lake Washington senior Natalie Vetto is surrounded by defenders during the Kangs’ 2-1 loss to Liberty on Thursday at Mac Field in Kirkland. JOHN WILLIAM HOWARD/Kirkland Reporter
Lake Washington senior Natalie Vetto is surrounded by defenders during the Kangs’ 2-1 loss to Liberty on Thursday at Mac Field in Kirkland. JOHN WILLIAM HOWARD/Kirkland Reporter

It’s been a tough week for the Lake Washington High girls soccer team.

On Monday, it was a loss to conference-leading Bellevue, a result which dropped the Kangs out of serious contention for the conference No. 1 seed.

On Thursday, Lake Washington lost to Liberty, 2-1, after holding a 1-0 lead in the first half at Mac Field in Kirkland.

The Kangs (8-4-0 KingCo, 9-4-1) now must fight for the No. 2 seed in the conference and the short road to the state tournament despite out-shooting Liberty (7-3-2, 8-3-3) on Thursday evening.

“We definitely didn’t play to the best of our ability on Tuesday, and I think tonight we controlled the entire game,” said junior goalkeeper Cass Barnes. “We just need to be better about finishing our chances.”

Freshman center forward Jen Estes scored her 11th goal of the season in the 14th minute, and had a point-blank chance blocked early in the second half.

“[The players just need] to take advantage of the opportunities they set themselves up for,” LW coach Ashton Griffin said. “We had by far the majority of opportunities offensively, and we only finished one of them.”

Finishing was the focus at halftime, especially on corners.

“If you don’t put some of those chances away and they get a fluke goal, they’re right back in this game,” Griffin said. “It’s exactly what happened, unfortunately, and it just goes to show you how important it is to finish your chances when you have them.”

Liberty junior Kalyn Gill slotted home the equalizer in the 51st minute, and the Patriots scored the game-winner following a scrum in the 6-yard box eight minutes later.

It was just the instance all season in which the Kangs have lost consecutive matches. Lake Washington lost to Bellevue, 4-2, and to Liberty 3-0, in September.

Should the Kangs win the final two matches, Lake Washington would play Bellevue for an automatic bid to the state tournament on Nov. 29.

Next, Lake Washington is scheduled to play Sammamish (1-11-0, 1-13-0) on Monday, Oct. 24 at Sammamish High School.

Mercer Island 2, Juanita 1 (OT)

The Rebels were unable to make the most of a clutch goal from Paige McKenna on Thursday evening.

McKenna tied the game for Juanita (2-7-3, 3-7-4) in the 79th minute on a free kick, forcing overtime.