Staring at a two goal deficit with less than 20 minutes to play against the same team that eliminated them two seasons ago, the No. 5 Toledo girls soccer team gutted out a 3-2 miracle victory over No. 4 Mount Vernon Christian, Saturday, to advance to the state semifinals.
After the Hurricanes extended their lead in the 60th minute with their second goal, a bruised and battered Riverhawks squad needed a goal, and fast, to keep pace.
Enter Marina Smith, who scored her 29th goal this season — a single season school record — off a header from a Rose Dillon corner kick.
The senior Dillon would come up big again in stoppage time, scoring off a set piece free kick to tie it up and force extra time in Anacortes. With all the momentum, it was just a matter of time before the Riverhawks scored again, where in the second extra time period, Vanesa Rodriguez scored off an assist from Smith to send Toledo to the Final Four.
“The girls just never gave up,” Toledo coach Noel Vazquez said. “It’s a very strong-minded team, they were playing for each other. This took a lot of team effort and a lot of dedication.”
The Riverhawks just keep adding to a historic run, after winning their first ever state playoff game against Friday Harbor on Wednesday, they just punched their ticket into the state semis for the first time in program history.
They’ll take on a familiar foe, though they haven’t played this season, Toledo will take on No. 8 Adna on Friday at Sunset Stadium at 4 p.m. with a state title berth on the line.
“It’s going to be a learning curve for us and for them,” Vazquez said. “This is going to be a really fun matchup, Horst (Malunat) and I know each other very well … we’re going to show up and we’re going to compete.”
