The Kentridge High boys soccer team is a bit banged up and ill these days.
But it hardly showed Wednesday night.
Playing without a handful of players, Kentridge appeared on the surface as healthy as ever, knocking off Beamer 3-2 in a South Puget Sound League seeding game at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.
Kentridge received a huge performance from senior midfielder Scott Dunn, who managed a pair of games despite playing with flu-like symptoms. However, it was unknown midfielder Evan Estelle, who has spent the entire season playing on the junior varsity, that provided the biggest boot of all. Tied 2-2 with just three minutes remaining in regulation, Estelle collected a loose ball and nailed it home from 25 yards out, lifting the Chargers past the Titans.
“He’s just a quality kid,” said Kentridge coach Glenn Walrond. “All year long, because we’re loaded at midfield, he didn’t see any time. I was really grooming him for next year.”
But Estelle instead decided to make an appearance on Wednesday night.
And it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Chargers (11-3-3), who grabbed the SPSL’s No. 3 seed to the district tournament with the win. Kentridge will play Gig Harbor (11-5-2) at 11 a.m. at Bethel High on Saturday in a winner-to-state loser-out game. Kentridge hasn’t advanced to the state tournament since 2004.
Beamer (12-3-2) entered Wednesday night’s showdown having won six straight. In addition, the Titans came into the match on an eight-game unbeaten streak.
Kentridge’s Dunn didn’t waste any time putting getting Beamer’s attention either, giving the Chargers a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute on an assist from Scott Geffre. Dunn’s went in unassisted for his second goal of the night, which came in the 38th minute and gave Kentridge a 2-0 lead.
Dunn then sat the entire second half as did much of the Kentridge starters.
“The nice thing was that we were able to rest some guys and still get the win,” Walrond said. “At one point, we had seven starters on the bench, three because of sickness.”
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