Good Sunday morning. We’ll have all of last night’s news on tap, including some massive news for the upper Valley football community. First, though, we neglected to do this yesterday so we are doing this first this morning.
The playoff path for Mount Si High School’s boys’ soccer team going into last Friday night’s game against Newport was unclear. A win would put the Wildcats in a more preferable position to make state, so, as coach Ben Tomlisson put it, “This was almost like a play in into the district playoffs.” Well, it took a bit, but the Wildcats found their mojo in the second half and brought home a win over the Knights.
Zain Thompson and Zach Ramsey scored the goals for Mount Si in the 2-0 result that locked up third place for the Wildcats and a trip to the district playoffs. They will host the loser of the Wesco 4A title game Tuesday between Glacier Peak and Lake Stevens on Thursday night at home in Snoqualmie at 7:00 p.m.
“I think it was always going to be tough against a really good team. They’re stacked with higher- rated talent and so we just had to start well and stay organized and win those little moments,” Tomlisson said. Ramsey added, “We started well and I think when we start well, we perform well.” The game started out with very few scoring chances, but Mount Si got itself a good one in the 13th minute. After Zain Thompson was tackled in the penalty area, fellow senior Zach Ramsey got the opportunity to take the resulting penalty kick as has been custom all season. However, unexpectedly, Newport’s goalie was up to the task and stopped the shot keeping the game scoreless. Mount Si had a second really good chance later in the half which, too, was stopped at the last second by the Knight goalie, who literally kept his team in the game into halftime.
But things all changed in the 51st minute. Thompson got a feed from Ramsey and ripped it just past the Newport goalie to put Mount Si on the board first. “I saw Zach driving up the field. I checked my shoulder and I had the space so I yelled for it, (he) passed it to me, (I) turned to (shoot and) hit it top corner,” the Wildcat senior said. It has been a special season for Thompson. Getting that goal of course, but being part of a team going to the playoffs and also becoming a mini-celebrity on YouTube, courtesy of his recent participation in a soccer goal-scoring contest that was shown on the platform. About getting the chance to compete in this recent competition, Thompson said, “I saw one of my (club) teammates, he posted on (Instagram) so I reached out to them. I know the player that ran it and I just reached out.” The rest is history. He won the contest.
Later, in the 63rd minute, a frenzy in front of the goal resulted in a Newport handball in the penalty area, which once again provided a chance for Ramsey to attempt a penalty kick. This time was a charm for his school record 27th goal of the season and it was 2-0 ‘Cats. Mount Si defensively held serve the remainder of the way and took care of this one much to the delight of the Wildcat fans in attendance. And Tomlisson too. “I’m just really pleased were in that top bracket now of the playoffs rather than in the grinder where anything can happen,” he said.
The playoff situation for Mount Si looks like this. They will need to win the Thursday game to get themselves into a multi-shot deal to make the state playoffs. The winner of that game will face Redmond next week for a trip to state but a loss in that game puts them into a second winner-to-state game later next week. So the Wildcats have to take care of business on Thursday to put themselves in a cushy position to go far this postseason. Tomlisson thinks this team is ready. “I think you’ll expect really close games,” he said, adding, “I think it’s going to be tough, but we’ve got big time players that are ready to step up.”
Mount Si JV season finale marred by late skirmish: We don’t normally mention the Wildcat junior varsity but their season finale was marred by an incident late in their contest against Newport. Mount Si won 2-0 in that game as well but there was some pushing and shoving between the two teams following a foul which resulted in both teams converging near the Mount Si bench. Officials issued at least two red cards to players for their roles in the incident, ejecting those players from the contest. As red cards normally result in suspensions, the Kingco Conference will have to decide if those players’ discipline will carry over into next season.
Snoqualmie Valley Sports Journal 