Snohomish stays the course, tops rival Glacier Peak 4-1

SNOHOMISH — The Panthers before the game created a contingency plan, detailing exactly how they would react if Glacier Peak scored a goal against them.

“You dig the ball out of the net, you sprint up to the half and we go back at them,” Snohomish senior forward Jason Fairhurst said. “Nothing changes.”

The Panthers were unfazed when after 59 minutes of scoreless play the Grizzlies’ Camron Miller elevated over the rest of Snohomish’s defenders before heading the ball past Panthers goalkeeper Michael Herrera off a long free kick.

Snohomish responded with four goals during the next 15 minutes from four different players and rallied to claim a 4-1 non-league, rain-soaked win against rival Glacier Peak on Friday evening at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“Had the group not remained disciplined, the result wouldn’t have been there,” Snohomish first-year varsity coach Matt Raney said. “We are trying to develop a resilience and fortitude that they never stop believing in each other, and I think, it’s early, but tonight I think we saw an example, and this will be a great lesson for them down the road.”

Snohomish’s attack found little success navigating Glacier Peak’s defense during the first 40 minutes, and the Panthers (2-1) were on their heels during the first 20 minutes of the second half, but as soon as Miller’s goal gave the Grizzlies (1-1) a 1-0 lead, Snohomish began crafting scoring chances.

A minute after giving Glacier Peak a lead, Miller took down Panthers midfielder Felipe Cerna in the box, giving teammate Logan Stapleton a penalty kick opportunity that he converted with a low liner past the left of Glacier Peak goalkeeper Marco Guerrero.

In the 69th minute, the Panthers’ Bohdi Uderitz displayed his skill by chipping a ball over the head Guerrero. Uderitz struck the ball from 15 yards out from the right side of the goal. The ball lofted beautifully and ricocheted high off the inside of the left post and into the back of the net, giving Snohomish a 2-1 edge.

“Our team called it the FIFA goal, because a lot of our guys play Bohdi in FIFA and he is able to score goals like that,” Fairhurst said. “But we’ve never seen him score that in the real world, so that was definitely my favorite goal of the night.”

Two minutes later in the 71st minute Fairhurst added his name to the scoreline, blasting a shot past Guerrero from 25 yards out into the bottom-right corner of the net, and Conner Smith scored Snohomish’s final goal in the 74th minute on a breakaway.

The matchup featured two of Snohomish County’s premier soccer programs. Glacier Peak reached the Class 3A state tournament quarterfinals a year ago, while Snohomish finished fourth in Class 4A last spring.

“I played on a team with at least seven of the guys (on Glacier Peak) and know a lot of them really well,” Fairhurst said. “When it comes down to it it’s a competition. You get the mindset that they are the enemy, and you are going after them. It’s a lot of fun to play against them, and it’s a lot of fun to beat somebody like them, because you have all the close interaction.”