Borislav “Bobby” Stoyanov, a junior forward, made sure Mountlake Terrace was the stronger side, with four goals and two assists as the Hawks poured it on in a 7-1 domination of Tyee.
Each team faced significant losses before the match even started and some major lineup changes.
No doubt the Mountlake Terrace High School boys soccer team survived the off-the-field blows to its personnel better than Tyee.
Missing five regulars, Terrace coach George Dremousis was clearly concerned before Tuesday night’s first-round match in the Class 2A state playoffs. But Borislav “Bobby” Stoyanov quickly put those fears to rest.
Stoyanov, a junior forward, made sure Mountlake Terrace was the stronger side with four goals and two assists as the Hawks poured it on in a 7-1 domination of Tyee, which played without top player Habib Barry, to advance in the Class 2A state playoffs at Highline Stadium.
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Max Jackson, a junior midfielder, added two goals for Terrace, which looked unstoppable despite major lineup shuffling.
“It was kind of scary,” said Terrace senior defender Sam Polevoy of all the team’s lineup changes, including a last-minute substitution in goal of Cody Nickell. “We had (backup goalkeeper) John (Ruelas) who was warming up and wasn’t looking too hot, so we put in Cody and he played a pretty solid game. As a defense, we had to make sure we played lockdown and make sure no one could get any open shots. We did until the end when you saw when someone got open, they scored.”
The Hawks (14-6), depleted by injury and player dismissals for athletic-code violations, advance to meet either Highline or Columbia River in the 2A state quarterfinals on Friday or Saturday.
With the loss, Tyee finishes the season at 14-5-1.
Both teams played without top players, Mountlake Terrace moving forward without five players the rest of the season.
Before Tuesday’s match, the Hawks lost three players — goalkeeper Genaro Ruiz and midfielders Gavin Scott and Malek Quibba — to athletic-code violations. Another two players — midfielders Juan Lopez and Diego Aguiniga — are also out for the rest of the season with injuries.
Tyee’s Barry injured a knee during a workout Thursday. He led the Totems with 36 goals.
“We can’t risk anything,” Tyee coach Seyti Sidibay said of Barry sitting out the state opener. “He needs rest.”
Dremousis was still trying to find a replacement for starting keeper Ruiz less than 10 minutes before kickoff, effectively sending different players to the goal for on-the-fly tryouts. He settled on senior defender Nickell, who had not played keeper in high school.
Even at the half, Dremousis said he was nervous despite a 5-0 advantage.