Boys Soccer: Lake Washington Outlasts Mercer Island, Advances in Playoffs

Taylor Stapf and Justin Manao were nervous before Lake Washington's matchup with Mercer Island Wednesday night. Perhaps more nervous than they had ever been before a game.

On the Kangs biggest play of the game, both appeared to be as calm as could be.

Stapf drew a penalty in the box following a 60-yard run and Manao put in the ensuing penalty kick to help lead Lake Washington to a 1-0 win over Mercer Island in the championship game of the KingCo 3A boys soccer tournament.

"Both [Stapf and Manao] were extremely nervous before this game," LW coach Shaun Warner said. "It was great to see Taylor make the 60-yard run and then both of them talked to each other. ustin Manao was the one that was able to take the PK and he finished it off for us."

The win puts the Kangs into the "pigtail" Metro/KingCo game on Saturday, which will determine the final state playoff berth awarded to the conferences. Lake Washington will play the as-yet undetermined number four seed out of Metro in the winner-to-state/loser-out game.

As far as wins go, this one was about as ugly as possible for Lake Washington. The Kangs were dominated in the time of possession category from the opening whistle and never put a serious threat on goal other than Manao's penalty kick. Lake Washington spent nearly the entire second half in its defensive third, thwarting attack after attack from Mercer Island.

"It wasn't pretty, we just ran and we ran and we ran," Warner said. "This team has a tremendous amount of heart...these guys just don't give up."

Lake Washington got all the offense it needed late in the first half, when Stapf took control of the ball near midfield and turned to find nothing but open space in front of him. Stapf took the ball nearly 60 yards before being bumped from behind by Mercer Island defender Nick Goelz as he attempted a shot. The Kangs were awarded a penalty kick and Manao put it in, just past a diving Nico Terentjev in the 35th minute.

"Us getting the lead did a huge thing," Warner said. "We have not lost a game that we've scored in...so once we get that goal, we're a different team." 

Once in control of the lead, Lake Washington went into to full prevent mode, greeting Mercer Island's possession-based attack with long clear after long clear.

"You've got to make sure you finish chances," Mercer Island head coach Steve Newman said. "We just didn't finish the chances we had."

The Islanders had more than enough chances to tie or take the lead, but could not find an answer for Kangs goalkeeper Andreas Verduzco. Verduzco was lights out in the second half, making six saves, including one where he threw himself in front of a follow-up shot while still laying on the ground following the initial block.

For Lake Washington, the win was just the latest in a string of recent victories that coincided with Verduzco's season debut. Lake Washington began the season 1-5 without Verduzco in goal, getting outscored 20-2 over that period, but have lost just once since April 1 and have surrendered just eight goals in their last 12 games.

"He's got my vote for the best keeper in the state, if not on the west side of the country," Warner said of Verduzco."I think he's phenomenal."

Lake Washington will play the fourth seed out of the Metro tournament on Sasturday at 1 pm at Interbay Stadium in Seattle.