Roosevelt cruised to a 3-0 victory over red-hot Lynnwood on Wednesday night in the first round of the Class 3A boys state soccer playoffs at Edmonds Stadium.
Lynnwood wanted to make history in boys soccer with its first state victory.
Instead, it was Roosevelt adding to its history and the Roughriders want more. The choked emotion from Roosevelt coach Gary Hunter was evidence how much the win meant.
It also told how much another opportunity to avenge last spring’s 2-1 loss to Mercer Island in the Class 3A state quarterfinals was welcomed.
Brandon Jong, one of 14 seniors, kicked off the scoring in the 18th minute on a penalty kick and Roosevelt cruised to a 3-0 victory over red-hot Lynnwood on Wednesday night in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs at Edmonds Stadium.
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The school’s eighth trip to the state quarterfinals and second in a row had Hunter choking back tears.
“We’d scouted Lynnwood a lot, they’re a great team and WesCo is a great league, but my kids they were ready to fight,” Hunter said. “We wanted to come and just take it right to them from the beginning. That was our game plan: To come right at them as much as we can.
“We were fortunate to get a goal off a restart, and that just kind of gave us the momentum.”
Roosevelt (17-2-3) hosts Central Kitsap, a 1-0 winner over Seattle Prep, on Friday at 6:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. in the 3A state quarterfinals at Nathan Hale High School, according to Hunter.
Lynnwood ends the season with a 12-7 record after reaching state for the first time since 1986. The Royals, coming off a Northwest District title, still don’t own a state victory in two state matches.
The Roughriders lost to Mercer Island in last year’s quarterfinals but dominated with a 22-7 shots advantage and felt like the match was theirs.
“The quarterfinals, we’ve just got to push past it and get to the Final Four,” said Hunter, who is hoping to join the Roughriders’ 2013 team, which last got to the state semifinals and took a school-best third place. “These kids have fought so hard. We wanted to get to the quarterfinals, and just reset and go. It’s been an emotional year, because last year we were in the quarterfinals and we didn’t get it done.
“They’ve been on a mission ever since. We have to avenge ourselves.”
Jong converted a penalty kick in the 18th minute after Lynnwood was called for a handball in the penalty area. Jong slid the kick just inside the left post and into the left corner of the net for a 1-0 Roughrider lead.
The handball call came after the Royals cleared two shots — one by Jong — off the back line.
“Losing to (eighth-seeded) Lakeside and getting knocked out of Metro (title contention) was a reminder we couldn’t take anything for granted,” Jong said after Roosevelt entered the Metro tourney as the top seed, but was forced to win three consolation matches to reach state. “That loss (to Mercer Island) stuck with us a lot. We want to keep going and win the championship.”
Riley Long buried a point-blank chance in the 49th minute after Avery Jacobson’s corner kick came off the head of a teammate and back to the left post. Long’s score pushed the Roughriders ahead 2-0.
Ari Levin scored on a rebound of his own miss to make it 3-0 in favor of Roosevelt in the 54th minute.