TACOMA — All it took was a five-minute stretch in the second half to send the Timberline Blazers into a spiral.
After a strong first half performance by the 10th-seeded Blazers against No. 2 Gig Harbor in the District 3 3A quarterfinals Tuesday at Mount Tahoma, the Tides unleashed three goals in five minutes to storm in front and eventually win 4-1.
Timberline was an upset victory over the Tides away from clinching its first state berth since 1991 but now has to win two games in the consolation bracket.
“I told the team that there was a five- or 10-minute stretch in the second half where we just let our guard down and we didn’t get the ball off our foot quick enough,” Timberline head coach Mark Towers said. “We took too many touches on the ball, not just from one player. We had turnovers in the defending third. I felt like after that, it kind of dropped off.”
Timberline, fresh off an upset win at White River on Saturday, won the race to the first goal on the scoreboard. Keeper Parker Spengler kept Gig Harbor out of the net on several occasions in the first 15 minutes before Liam Derickson poked a Malik Alawi free kick into the back of the net.
Moments before Alawi’s free kick, Timberline coaches could be heard yelling “This is your moment” to their players.
In the 31st minute, Timberline’s Kaden Whitelock was called for a penalty in the box, and Gig Harbor tied the game on a penalty kick by Eli Hanson. But that penalty was only a slight blemish on what was otherwise a strong defensive first half for the Blazers.
“We were very sound on defense. We were compact on defense. We created our chances off of counter attacks,” Towers said of the first half.
Timberline, playing without junior striker Arilson Lima Filho, who picked up a red card in the first round of the district tournament, struggled offensively throughout the second half. The kinetic ball movement from the first half disappeared and was stagnant, and Gig Harbor earned set pieces and shots near the goal often.
In the first 12 minutes of the first half, the Tides recorded three corner kicks and missed four good looks close to the goal. But, over the next five minutes, Gig Harbor began to connect on its shots, sending three into the back of the net in the 58th, 60th and 63rd minutes. In a matter of minutes, what was once a tie game felt like a blowout.
Timberline took a corner kick in the 68th minute and had a 33-yard free kick in the 75th, but the Blazers couldn’t produce opportunities on offense in the second half.
“We were defending and holding our own, but when the ball is at our feet, we have to get it off quicker and not play with the ball,” Towers said of the second half.
Towers credited senior Zach Lambert for stepping into the role left by Lima Filho, lauding his defensive performance and IQ. Lima Filho was one of three goal scorers for Timberline in its win over White River and has scored nine goals this season.
The Blazers (9-7-2, 6-3-1 Puget Sound League) now head to the consolation bracket, where they will first meet PSL rival Capital (13-4-2, 8-2-1 PSL) Thursday at Roy Anderson Field in Gig Harbor. Capital and Timberline split their two matchups in the regular season, with the Blazers earning a signature 2-1 victory on senior night April 28 in the most recent meeting.
If Timberline can advance past Capital, a potential date with another PSL rival in North Thurston could loom in a winner-to-state, loser-out game on Saturday. Two wins would send the Blazers to just their third trip to state in program history, as Timberline qualified as a 4A team in 1991 and 1976.
Timberline has been close to breaking the drought several times in the past four years, but first-year coach Towers is confident this squad can be the one to make history.
“I’ve been telling these guys before every game that they need to support each other and stay positive toward each other during the game,” Towers said. “Positive things will happen. When this group plays together and has quick touches and supports each other, they’re a hard team to beat.”
