By Joel Willits
Bellevue Reporter
After the buzzer had ended and the pleasantries had been exchanged following Wednesday’s Class 3A state first-round game between Sammamish and Sumner, Totems coach Karsten Hoffmann told his victorious team he wanted to hear a louder bus on the way home than he had heard on the way to the game.
After all, when you’re victorious in your first state contest since 1997, as the Totems were with a 2-1 win over the champions of the South Puget Sound League, it’s OK to get a little noisy.
Anna Geldenhuys scored both Sammamish goals off assists from Tina Jacobsen and the Totems received excellent goalkeeping from junior Kyra Lindstrom to move on to the second round, where they’ll face Seattle Prep, who defeated Enumclaw, on Saturday in the quarterfinals at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood.
“We came from a tough, tough league in KingCo and now that’s paying off,” Hoffmann said. “The long road we’ve taken here has shown that.”
Long indeed. The Totems (12-4-4) finished in fifth place in the conference and had to win three-straight loser-out games against Liberty, Bellevue and Bishop Blanchet of the Metro League to make the state tournament.
And the Spartans of Sumner were no pushovers, coming into the game with a 14-3-1 record, a SPSL 3A league title and a pair of high-scoring forwards in Amber Fenton (26 goals) and Kaylee Holloway (17 goals)
Geldenhuys scored her first goal of the game in the 24th-minute for Sammamish, a point which Hoffmann said the confidence of the team changed.
“That goal didn’t change our approach, but it sure changed our confidence,” Hoffman said. “It was a long, quiet ride down here and Sumner is a heck of a good team.”
When the Spartans did get chances, Lindstrom was there to shut them down, making multiple big saves to retain the lead.
“Kyra has really just come on in the last month,” Hoffmann said. “She’s got confidence now…she’s just been playing brilliantly.”
Geldenhuys scored her 16th-goal of the year and her second of the game in the 62nd-minute on a perfect bending shot from the left side of the net that found it’s way into the top-right corner past Sumner goalkeeper Jordan Swarthout.
Sumner finally got on the board in the 75th-minute when Alex Murray scored off a header from a corner kick to cut the Sammamish lead to one, but the Spartans failed to record another shot before time ran out.
“I had thoughts that our team could do this, but I didn’t want to jinx anything,” said senior defender Shannon Scott, one of 16 returning players for the Totems. “I know our team has the talent to go all the way, we just need to bring it each night.”
Sammamish’s next opponent, Seattle Prep of the Metro League, is 13-3-3 overall. The game will be played at 7 p.m. at the Southwest Athletic Complex in West Seattle.
Joel Willits can be reached at 425-453-5045 or at jwillits@bellevuereporter.com.
