Vikings soccer team to play at state finals

November 14, 2021 1:30 am
Chris Sutton photo Junior Co-Captain Diego Lago tries to muscle one in via his hangtime on a header attempt from a corner kick. Friday’s game was nothing short of physical, something the Orcas Vikings have not backed down from this year as a team.
Chris Sutton photo Junior Co-Captain Diego Lago tries to muscle one in via his hangtime on a header attempt from a corner kick. Friday’s game was nothing short of physical, something the Orcas Vikings have not backed down from this year as a team.

by Jefferson Freeman

Orcas High School Student

Two more games.

That’s all that remains in the Orcas Vikings’ 2021 soccer season.

The first round of the state playoffs saw the top seed Vikings play host as they took on the Puget Sound Adventist Sharks at Anacortes High School. The first game of the playoffs saw a relatively large crowd make the trip to Anacortes to support their Vikings and they were rewarded with a 5-0 demolition of Puget Sound. The Sharks kept it close for the first 20 minutes of play.

Eventually, the Vikings cracked the Shark defense as Tommy Anderson-Cleveland beat the center back in a foot race to a ball from Kevin Ibarra and made an impressive aerial tap past the keeper to give the Vikings an important lead. After the first goal, it felt like only a matter of time until the Vikings added another to the scoreboard and they did. Artistic passing on the build-up got Cadence Kraayeveld in position to hit a cross through the box to Pedro Guerro who slammed the ball home for a 2-0 lead.

At this point all Puget Sound could do was stop the bleeding and even that was a tall task against an explosive Viking offense. Pedro Guerro crossed a ball towards Kevin Ibarra who soared through the defense like a bird before heading the ball home to give Orcas a three-goal advantage. The score was 3-0 at half and to give the Sharks credit they kept the Vikings off the score sheet for just over 20 minutes in the second half before William Ibarra converted a brilliantly taken freekick from 32 yards past the keeper’s hand. Four goals weren’t the end of the day for the Viking attack as Tommy Anderson-Cleveland got his second goal and the team’s fifth of the day to ice the cake for a Viking victory.

The Vikings will face off against league rival Friday Harbor on Friday, Nov. 19 in Sumner, Washington. The two teams split their regular season series with the Vikings getting a 1-0 win at home before falling 2-1 in a close game at Friday Harbor. In other playoff action, Providence beat Upper Columbia Academy 3-0 and will take on Crosspoint who defeated the Mount Vernon Christian Hurricanes 1-0. Both Crosspoint and Providence won their leagues before losing to Orcas in the district playoffs. The winners of those matchups will play on Saturday, Nov. 20 again in Sumner with the title of State Champions on the line.

Chris Sutton photo Junior Co-captain Tommy Anderson-Cleveland breaks hard on the ball to gain possession for the Vikings in the 5-0 routing of Puget Sound Adventist in the Elite 8 State State Playoff game.

Chris Sutton photo Junior Co-captain Tommy Anderson-Cleveland breaks hard on the ball to gain possession for the Vikings in the 5-0 routing of Puget Sound Adventist in the Elite 8 State State Playoff game.

Chris Sutton photo With the might and fury of a jungle cat Senior William Ibarra smashes a shot on goal for the Orcas Vikings. The win has now put Orcas in the Final Four of the State Playoffs.

Chris Sutton photo With the might and fury of a jungle cat Senior William Ibarra smashes a shot on goal for the Orcas Vikings. The win has now put Orcas in the Final Four of the State Playoffs.