If anything has been made clear from the first four matches of the season, it’s that the Lake Washington High girls’ soccer team can get offense from just about anywhere.
The Kangs beat Juanita, 2-0, on Thursday evening at Bergh Field in Kirkland, moving to 2-0 in KingCo play and 3-0-1 on the season.
The result came in spite of a frustrating first half for Lake Washington, in which Juanita all-conference keeper Nataya Bauer denied a 32nd-minute penalty attempt by Gracie Sturdevant and kept a well-earned clean sheet.
It took nearly an hour, but Juanita (0-1-1 KingCo, 1-1-2) eventually broke down.
“[At halftime,] we talked about the type of through ball they were playing through the defense,” said Lake Washington coach Ashton Griffen. “Instead of playing direct, play an angled ball or a softer ball, just so it isn’t getting to the keeper. Other than that, it was really just the girls.”
Junior Lexi Johnson scored both goals in the second half, netting the go-ahead goal on an assist from Sakky Yoshida in the 59th minute. The second score came in the 73rd minute when a pass snuck through the Juanita back line and Johnson beat Bauer to the bottom left corner of the goal.
Johnson, who was a sub against Juanita, becomes the third Lake Washington player to record two goals or more this season, behind freshman Jen Estes with five and Carlee Betterman with three.
Estes threatened more than once, and Sturdevant came inches from scoring multiple times in the first half. The penalty kick followed hard contact between Sturdevant and Bauer as the two raced for a through ball at the center of the 18-yard box. Bauer got there first, and lowered a shoulder as Sturdevant arrived.
Bauer saved the attempt, diving to her left, and immediately sprinted in Sturdevant’s direction with the ball in her hands before dodging around her and looking for a target downfield.
32' – Bauer whistled for a yellow in the box, then steps up to DENY Gracie Sturdevant. Match remains scoreless. pic.twitter.com/YrewHaxwbG
— John William Howard (@JowardHoward) September 16, 2016
“[Bauer] played an amazing game tonight, we just let her down defensively a little bit,” said Juanita coach John Mach. “She’s getting a lot of shots on goal, and we weren’t tracking back as well as we could.”
Bauer took a beating in the second half. The conference’s two-time goalkeeper of the year sank to her knees, then to her back in the 61st minute after some hard contact in the box. Later, she made a point-blank save and appeared to take a boot to the face while jumping onto the rebound.
Lake Washington players saw the wrong side of the turf just as often.
“Any game like this, against a rival, is not always going to be pretty soccer,” Griffen said. “It’s just kind of who wants it more and who puts it in the back of the net. We got lucky today, and we were definitely the better team.”
The loss broke a two-game shutout stretch for Bauer, who has allowed only three goals through four matches. Juanita has only two goals so far this year, coming in a 1-1 draw with Inglemoor and a 1-0 win over Meadowdale.
“It’s still early,” Mach said. “A lot of these girls are still figuring out how to play with each other, and that will come. We’re not worried, by any means.”
Juanita is scheduled to continue conference play with a road match against Liberty on Tuesday, Sept. 20. Lake Washington returns home to face Redmond at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20.
SUMMARY
at Bergh Field, Kirkland
Lake Washington 0 2 — 2
Juanita 0 0 — 0
Scoring: Lexi Johnson (2), 59′, 73′
