Interlake jumped on Steilacoom early in their sub-district playoff game and kept up an attacking style all evening to escape with a 2-1 win on Tuesday at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood.
Eric Ritter scored off an assist from Miguel Castillo from inside ten yards in the 15th minute, beating the Steilacoom keeper to the near post to give the Saints the quick advantage. Interlake coach Dan Petersen said getting out in front helped his team maintain their swagger.
“Once you get the first one, you feel a little more confident,” Petersen said, adding that most of the first half was spent with his team on the attack.
Interlake pressure again cracked the Steilacoom defense in the 35th minute, when Tavo Pardo found Benjamin Titus with a brilliant setup and Titus took advantage, putting Interlake ahead 2-0 after sneaking behind the defense to receive the feed and fire a shot into the back of the net.
The lone Steilacoom goal came in the 65th minute of the game on a free kick from Tyler Spodobalski that Petersen said did not faze his group, which was confident from controlling the pace throughout.
He also talked about Castillo and his ability to control the flow of the game by winning balls in the middle third of the field, which the Saints then use to quickly turn defense into offense.
“We did a good job of winning the ball in the middle third of the field,” Petersen said. “We really limited the amount of shots of they got on goal (four).”
The win means the Saints fight-on to Saturday’s District 3 tournament first round, where they will meet a familiar foe in the Kingston Buccaneers for a spot in the 2A state tournament as the second seed from the district.
Last season, the two met in this exact same situation with the Saints eventually prevailing on penalty kicks, 2-1. Wednesday’s win in a loser-out situation, the strength of their regular season slate and to a degree, last year’s win over these same Bucs all provide confidence for Interlake.
“Our confidence is good, we know Kingston is a good team,” Petersen said. “We know it’s going to be a real battle.”Among the chief concerns for Interlake is the Kingston defense and their goalie play, which Petersen said are both exceptional.
“I don’t know if they have very many weaknesses defensively,” Petersen said. “We want to make sure we play clean defense ourselves and limit their opportunities.”
