黑料福利社

A strong Davis team struggled to score at times this season, but the Pirates generally could rely on their dominant defense and eventually found a breakthrough.

That formula changed early in Wednesday鈥檚 4A state first round match at Zaepfel Stadium thanks to a goal directly off a corner kick by No. 13 seed Issaquah鈥檚 Eli Kim, and the No. 4 Pirates never recovered. Despite controlling possession most of the game, breaking through an organized Eagles back line proved difficult in a 3-0 season-ending loss for the CBBN league and district champions.

Photos and Videos

PHOTOS: Davis falls to Issaquah 3-0 in opening round of 4A state soccer tournament

• EVAN ABELL 黑料福利社

鈥淭hey鈥檙e a solid team, well-rounded,鈥� coach Cristian Gonzalez said. 鈥淭hey do the right things and when they do make mistakes they cover for each other pretty well, so it鈥檚 just hard to break them down.鈥�

Davis earned several corner kicks and forced eight saves from Issaquah鈥檚 freshman goalkeeper Ewan Hoffman, who helped his team win back-to-back loser-out games in penalty shootouts. But nearly every time the Pirates sent a cross or a long ball through the air near the Eagles鈥� penalty area, one of their defenders rose up to win the header.

An own goal off a long throw-in doubled the deficit midway through the second half and Gonzalez said the Pirates showed some signs of rushing in a mostly unfamiliar position. Although they came back from two goals down to win at Wenatchee, only three other teams scored twice against a defense that produced nine shutouts, including five 1-0 wins.

Issaquah also beat Davis in a first-round match two years ago, when the two teams went to a shootout tied at one. Eagles coach Mark Kovats wasn鈥檛 part of the program for that match, but he said some of his eight seniors likely played and knew what to expect from the Pirates.

鈥淲e knew how good they were attacking with some good overlapping runs,鈥� Kovats said. 鈥淎 ton of talent on their team, just had to keep them in front of us as best as we can, defend the running.鈥�

Gonzalez said Issaquah seemed to become more comfortable as the game progressed, while frustration grew for Davis as it couldn鈥檛 find the final pass or dribble past the last defender to set up a clean shot on goal. Eventually the Eagles took advantage of the Pirates鈥� desperation, scoring a third goal on a counterattack in the 80th minute.

Davis will need to find some new pieces following the departure of four senior starters, but Gonzalez said a strong group of juniors featuring central midfielder Lino Stevenson, center back Osmar Perez and forward Jaime Alcocer should give the Pirates a strong core of returners. As always, expectations will remain high for a program just three years removed from a third-place finish with three state appearances in the last four seasons.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 know where we could be but we knew we could get there,鈥� Gonzalez said. 鈥淲e just didn鈥檛 know how and we managed to do it by winning league and by winning districts, which is amazing in itself.

鈥淎t the end of the day, we wanted to be playing next weekend.鈥�

First half: 1, I, Eli Kim, 13:00.

Second half: 2, I, own goal, 55:00; 3, I, James Hudson (Carson Yamada), 80:00.

Saves: Ewan Hoffman (I) 8; Gabe Pualani (D) 1, David Marin (D) 1.