Shorewood Boys Soccer Claims State Berth With 1-0 Win Over Glacier Peak

SHORELINE— After a night of near misses, a Shorewood player finally got the magic touch in front of the goal on Thursday night at Shoreline Stadium.

After a pass from Danny Han, the T-birds’ adept dribbler Dawda Dibba used some fancy footwork to break free in front of the goal escaping a Glacier Peak defender who went for the ball.

And in that 59^th minute, Dibba didn’t miss—he took a shot from about eight yards out and put it in the back of the net for the game’s only goal.

“We wanted to keep a perfect record, like all the way to state, and this night was the greatest night of our season,” Dibba said. “Our goal was to win district and go to state and we did it.”

Shorewood coach Nathan Davis attributed his team’s early struggles during the game to nerves and the building pressure of the moment. But the T-birds earned the win and ran their record to 19-0, and claimed their first 3A District 1 title since 2008.

As for Dibba, he’s been a scoring machine, scoring the T-birds last four playoff goals.

“He’s finding the right place to be at the right time,” Davis said.

Next up for Shorewood, as its season continues, is its first round game of the 3A state tournament, which will be played next Tuesday or Wednesday at Shoreline Stadium.

After the slow start, Shorewood’s offensive pressure on goal began to build midway through the second half.

Dibba, who led the T-birds with a hat trick on Tuesday night’s 5-0 win over Sedro-Woolley, was the one to break the ice after Matthew Owen hit the left post in the 43^rd minute and Owusu Fordjour was called offsides on a breakaway in the 46^th minute.

Glacier Peak, the defending 3A District 1 champs, gave the T-birds all they could handle for 80 minutes, as they did in the final game of the regular season when Shorewood escaped with a 3-2 win.

The T-birds defense, had a few breakdowns, but kept the Grizzlies out of the goal and preserved the shutout, the team’s 17^th of the year.

T-bird defender Sam Jang blocked Glacier Peak’s best scoring opportunity, a shot by Greyden Saunders on the far post in the final 10 minutes

Shorewood finished with 15 shots on goal to Glacier Peak’s six. Both goalkeepers Daniel Nadeau of Shorewood and Jesus Mendoza of Glacier Peak had one big save apiece.

Glacier Peak plays Mount Vernon, Saturday, May 12 at 1 p.m. at Shoreline Stadium for the second berth from the district to state.