Stanwood girls soccer clinches first state berth since 2016

SHORELINE — Stanwood girls soccer expected a dogfight.

Even without much firsthand knowledge about Edmonds-Woodway, its opponent in the District 1 3A semifinals at Shoreline Stadium on Tuesday, Stanwood understood it would need to bring its best in order to advance to the title game and clinch a state tournament berth.

They wasted little time doing so.

Junior Kyler Burke established possession near the right corner in the second minute, and tried to center it toward the top of the 18-yard box. The ball bounced to sophomore Kylynn Knodel, who sent a first-touch shot over the goalkeeper’s head and into the back of the net to take an immediate 1-0 lead.

“I just tried to play in, and then Kylynn got on it, which was amazing,” Burke said. “It just boosted our energy right from the beginning.”

An Edmonds-Woodway hand ball in the box led to a penalty kick opportunity in the 15th minute, which senior Kendall Rhodes converted, and the Spartans (15-2-1) carried that lead to a 2-0 victory against the Warriors (10-6-3).

Stanwood will play in the district finals for the first time since at least 2008, which is as far back as the district brackets go in the WIAA Tournament Index. The Spartans will compete in the state tournament for the first time since 2016, which was the last time the program reached the district semifinals.

In head coach Olivia Lee’s third season, the program is seeing tangible results after she inherited a team that finished 7-8-2 in 2023. After finishing 6-10-1 in 2024 and 7-10-0 last year, Stanwood surged to the top of the Wesco North 3A/2A standings with a 10-1-1 league record this season.

“I think we’re all really proud of each other,” junior Leise Harriss said. “I feel like we worked really hard. We’ve had a couple rough, kind of, years. I feel like we’ve done a good job at getting back on our feet and coming back stronger.”

The players feel a stronger bond this season that has allowed them to play more connected, but Lee believes the program’s philosophy shift into becoming a possession-based team that moves the ball quickly has been the biggest factor in its improvement. After establishing the baseline in technical skills in her first two seasons, Lee could put more focus into how the team actually played each game.

“We can now focus more tactically because they know what I can expect technically, so they can do that on the outside, on their own,” Lee said. “Now we can focus more tactically as a team.”

Meanwhile, Edmonds-Woodway will have two opportunities to clinch a state berth in the consolation bracket. A win against Shorewood on Thursday is all the Warriors would need, but they would receive another opportunity on Saturday if they were to lose.

Edmonds-Woodway coach Kim Plumis expects a tough matchup against the Stormrays, but believes that facing a familiar opponent will make it a little easier on her squad compared to what they saw against Stanwood on Tuesday.

“It’ll be a tough game no matter what, but we know each other well,” Plumis said. “The girls are comfortable with that, so that’s the advantage. This is different. We haven’t seen them (the Spartans) all year. Didn’t know much about them other than what we could watch on video and all of that. So yeah, they’re a good squad.”

Plumis said the team identified Burke as a “dangerous, fast” player in preparation for the match, and Burke proved that to be true almost instantly. After she helped set up Knodel’s goal, the Warriors pushed back with some pressure around Stanwood’s 18-yard box in the third minute, but could not find a chance inside.

Edmonds-Woodway first tested Spartans senior goalkeeper Bella Braley with a shot on goal in the eighth minute, but Burke drew a corner kick in the 12th. The Warriors cleared the initial cross away, and while Knodel connected with Burke on the second-chance cross, the resulting shot went wide.

Stanwood earned another prime scoring opportunity after sophomore Gracelynn Ryan received a long ball into the box, and her shot went off an Edmonds-Woodway defender’s hand to give the Spartans a penalty kick. Rhodes sent it to the right side, and Warriors goalkeeper Morgan Smith got both hands on it, but it still rolled through into the net to make it 2-0 in the 15th minute.

Rhodes said there might have been a split-second of worry seeing Smith put both hands on the ball, but she believes any keeper will have a hard time stopping her from the spot.

“Whenever I take a PK, I always just have confidence,” Rhodes said. “Because I know that the keeper has no idea where I’m going to go, so just put power behind it, try to keep it low, and I was pretty confident it was going to go in.”

Added Harriss: “I think we all were.”

Stanwood established solid possession, working the ball around to junior Georgia Lenz on the right side for a crossing opportunity in the 18th minute. Edmonds-Woodway set up another close opportunity in the box in the 19th minute, but after that, play settled mostly in the middle third for the remainder of the half.

“I think they just held (the lead) with pride, and just really took care of the game,” Lee said. “Like they really cared. I know they all came out being focused, and how much this means to them, so I think that their mental state for this game was really great, being strong and playing for each other.”

Carrying the lead into the second half, the defense and Braley stepped up in moments when called upon. Harriss cleared away a Warriors counterattack in the 47th minute, and Braley made a double-save in the 54th. After diving to stop senior Bella Dreitzler’s shot in the box, Braley recovered to knock away the rebound opportunity from senior Izzy Han. She made another big stop on Dreitzler about 15 minutes later, charging off her line for a physical stop that caused her to remain on the ground for an extra moment before returning to the net.

“We did better getting first to the balls that they would send through, and just staying goal-side of them,” Harriss said. “And Bella made some insane saves, so she really did help us out so much.”

Stanwood hopes to bring that complete effort to the District Championship on Saturday, when they return to Shoreline Stadium to face Shorecrest. Although their spot at state is already secure, the Spartans will feel even better if they end Saturday by lifting a trophy.

“I think we all really want to win districts, too,” Rhodes said. “So we’re definitely going to try to come into it with the same intention that we did today.”