Eastlake edged by Lake Washington

Mistakes have been nearly non-existent for the Eastlake soccer team this season — at least until Tuesday night. The Wolves, who won five of their six previous games, committed three crucial errors against Lake Washington, resulting in a 3-2 loss.

Mistakes have been nearly non-existent for the Eastlake soccer team this season — at least until Tuesday night. The Wolves, who won five of their six previous games, committed three crucial errors against Lake Washington, resulting in a 3-2 loss.

“It’s as simple as that, you don’t make those three mistakes and you’re up 1-0 at the half,” Eastlake coach Adam Gervis said.

Instead, Eastlake dug itself a 2-0 hole after 20 minutes. Both of Lake Washington’s goals came on dropped passes back to the goalkeeper. The Kangaroos struck first in the sixth minute when Shaun Hockeiser intercepted a pass from defender Tyler Klein to goalkeeper Victor Kollar. Hockeiser booted the ball to the left of Kollar for the score. Lake Washington scored again in the 20th minute, when Ian Nova stole another pass to Kollar.

The Wolves countered in the 30th minute on Jordan Softli’s second goal of the season. The senior forward beat Kangaroo goalkeeper Henry Busch one-on-one after receiving an assist from Mikey Marsh.

Lake Washington answered just six minutes later, however. This time, Kingsley Northcott stepped in front of Kollar’s attempt to clear the ball and booted a shot into the upper left corner from 20 yards out.

“That’s what it was on all of them. It was just miscommunication,” Gervis said.

Eastlake turned the pressure up in the second half, but was unable to get over the hump. The Wolves scored in the 75th minute when Sofli dropped a nice pass back to Cutler Gray. Gray blasted in a score from 10 yards out, earning his third goal of the year. Eastlake out-shot Lake Washington 16-8 for the game and impressed its coach with the second-half effort.

“You have to bring the lunch pail all the time, and the second half they brought it,” Gervis said.

Fortunately for the Wolves, the game didn’t count in the standings. Due to a scheduling issue, all KingCo 4A games played this week and last will not count in the league standings. The Northshore School District is on spring break this week and Lake Washington School District was on break last week. Normally teams from each district would face each other on their respective breaks, but league officials made a mistake. In order to be fair, four games won’t count in the league standings. That didn’t mean Tuesday’s loss was any easier to swallow.

“I haven’t lost to Lake Washington in all my time here, and I’ve been here for seven years now,” Gervis said.

He hopes this game will serve as a wake-up call.

“They have to understand if they want to do something, the seniors have to step and take care of business,” Gervis said. “They’re a great group of guys to work with and they’re very capable.”

Eastlake, which is 4-1 in league and leading the Lake Division, plays its fourth and final “non-league” game at 7:30 tonight against Inglemoor at home. The Wolves will return to league play Tuesday, April 15 against Roosevelt at home.

Eagles end winless streak

The streak is over.

Issaquah earned its first victory since May 4, 2006, downing Interlake 2-0 on April 3.

The Eagles scored their first goal in the 25th minute on a goal from Lucas Morais, assisted by Connor Gerrity. Gerrity tacked on a goal of his own in the 65th minute, via an assist from Quinn Grisham. Goalkeeper Stephen Jacobsen recorded the shutout.

Issaquah improved to 1-5-2 in league with the win. The Eagles are currently in seventh place in the KingCo 3A, ahead of Interlake and Liberty. Issaquah will go for its second consecutive win against Newport at 7:30 tonight on the road.

Skyline bumped from first place

The last week was a bit of a roller coaster ride for Skyline. The Spartans defeated Bellevue 2-1 last Friday to take sole possession of first place in the KingCo 3A, but lost 3-1 to Sammamish on Tuesday, falling out of the top spot.

Skyline trailed Bellevue 1-0 Friday, but battled back on goals from Garrett Nordyke and Travis Strawn. The Spartan teammates struck in the 33rd and 38th minute, respectively.

Skyline took the initial lead Tuesday, earning a goal in the 13th minute from David Bretl, but Sammamish rallied for three second-half scores to win.

The Spartans, 5-2-2, are two points behind Bellevue and Newport in the standings. Skyline is on the road at 7:30 tonight to face Mount Si.