Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

PREP GIRLS' SOCCER: Meridian knocked out of automatic state berth by King's in Class 1A Northwest District Tournament championship

It looked like the Meridian girls' soccer team still had a solid chance to secure an automatic Class 1A State Tournament berth at halftime of its Class 1A Northwest District Tournament championship match against King's on Saturday, Oct. 31 at Oak Harbor.

The score was locked at 1-1 from early goals by King's Hillary Zebendergen in the 18th minute and Meridian's Randi Donahue in the 30th minute. However, King's consistent offense was able to pull ahead of Meridian, eventually outscoring the Trojans 4-1.

King's receives an automatic berth in the Class 1A State Tournament with the win and plays Seattle Academy at 6 p.m. on Nov. 4 at Starfire Stadium in a Class 1A tri-district tournament seeding game. Meridian still moves to the Class 1A tri-district tournament, but will need two wins to advance to the state tournament. The Trojans host a first-round game against the District 3 No. 3 seed next week.

"We've been competing against Kings in every way we can over the past few years. They always seem to be the team we end up playing in the postseason," Meridian coach Aaron Jacoby said in a phone interview. "They've had a senior class that's been good for the past four years."

In the second half, King's Hillary Quinn, Zebendergen and Jodie ZanGorkom scored in the 52nd, 65th and 67th minutes.

"When Hillary Quinn hit her free kick for a goal, it was one of those things where I saw it coming and it just snuck in there, a huge game-changer," Jacoby said. "And with two more goals late, we hung our heads a little bit and got flustered."

Jacoby said with four games in about a week, his team was ready physically but was drained mentally.

"We did not play poorly, we gave ourselves a chance in the first half, but we couldn't extend it any further," Jacoby said. "We hung in there and played hard, even in the last 10 to 15 minutes, but our girls were just gassed by the end."

KING'S 4, MERIDIAN 1

Scoring: Goal: Hillary Zebendergen (King's), assist: Jodie ZanGorkom, time: 18:00; Goal: Randi Donahue (Meridian), time: 30:00; Goal: Hillary Quinn (King's), time: 52:00; Goal: Hillary Zebendergen (King's), time: 65:00; Goal: Jodie ZanGorkom (King's) time: 67:00. Shots on goal: King's 7; Meridian 4. Goalies (saves): King's: Carolyn Dapper (3); Meridian: Chance Appel (3).