SILVERDALE — The beauty of soccer is that its appearance can change instantly.
At least in the case of South Kitsap.
For more than 90 percent of Tuesday afternoon’s match against Central Kitsap at Olympic Stadium, it appeared that the teams would repeat last season’s fate when they twice tied.
But senior midfielder Kailey Lyman found junior Rose Posadas, who placed the pass into the left side of the net among several Wolves in the 74th minute to guide South Kitsap to a 1-0 win in Class 4A Narrows League play.
“I thought Rose Posadas really gave us a lot of great energy on the outside,” South coach Julie Cain said.
The victory kept the Wolves (8-1-1 overall, 7-1-1 league) in first place in 4A Narrows with 22 points. It also marked third-year coach Cain’s first win against the Cougars (2-6-2, 2-5-2), who have tied South in the last four meetings between the teams. The Wolves’ last win in the series was 2-1 in double overtime on Oct. 29, 2007, in the Narrows League playoffs.
“This is a huge game for us because it’s on the road and it was against our rival,” Cain said.
Posadas and her teammates initially did not know whether to celebrate. An official blew his whistle shortly after the goal — an indication that someone might have been offsides. But Posadas said she felt the play was “clean,” and South, which amassed 10 fouls at that point, was not cited for an infraction.
“It was a tough goal,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if we were going to get it called against us. I was really worried.”
The goal allowed Cain to continue with her normal strategy instead of using an extra forward in hopes of generating more pressure on goal. She said she nearly had to go that route because CK features a talented backline and “their speed of play is so much slower than ours.”
“We didn’t get very many shots off,” she said.
Avoiding a tie was critical as the Wolves have just four league matches remaining after Thursday’s contest against Olympia. South is one point ahead of Gig Harbor (9-2-0, 7-2-0) and three in front of Bellarmine Prep (8-2-1, 6-2-1) in 4A Narrows.
But Cain said the win was important for another reason.
“It’s nice just to play on turf because we need practice for the playoffs,” she said.
Senior goalkeeper Bri Smallige earned her seventh shutout of the season.
Tuesday
South Kitsap 1, at Central Kitsap 0
First half-None.
Second half-1, South Kitsap, Rose Posadas (Kailey Lyman), 74th minute.
Oct. 6
South Kitsap 1, at Stadium 0
First half-1, South Kitsap, Rachel Prince (Hayley Romo), 37th minutes.
