TACOMA--Kennedy boys soccer penned a perfect ending to their game versus Mercer Island's Islanders, winning 1-0 in a 4-1 shootout victory in a semifinal of the WIAA Dairy Farmers Of Washington/Les Schwab 3A state soccer tournament at Harry E. Lang Stadium in Lakewood May 23.

The slash on the exclamation point was Lancers senior keeper Sean Miller. He watched one of his captains, also a senior, Tony Armitage, strike the first kick quick and true, pocketing his penalty kick in the shootout in the left corner to make it 1-0 Lancers. Then Miller knew what to do, thanks to the opponent's body language, literally.

"I saw his body was crossing over that direction (left) and I just went that way for the shot," said Miller.

It went well, as Miller's diving body, led by his outstretched right hand, saved the ball from nestling into the left corner of the goal for MI.

That was a great start for the Lancers, who couldn't have written a better script than that for "How To Do A Shootout."

"That put the pressure on them," said Lancers head coach Brian Mullen. "A keeper blocking the first one sets the tone. The other keeper then has to block one."

And shootouts do not favor shooters. Probably the percentage time a player misses a penalty kick in a shootout, on average, is around 20 percent.

So Armitage scored, MI's first shooter missed, and then the Lancers' second kicker, Josh Lewis, another senior, scored his PK, striking the ball hard and high, clanking off the underside of the crossbar and continuing downward into the back of the net for a 2-0 Lancers lead.

MI's next kicker made his shot, so it was 2-1 Lancers. Again, the Lancers' third kicker, junior Christian Nichols, shot it hard and home, clanking the ball off the left post and in.

"That's two," one anonymous fan said at the time, referring to the second straight shot in for the Lancers in the shootout.

Then, for the third kicker of MI, a miss. And then the fourth kicker of the Lancers, Rudishi Muschett, smashed it into the left corner. MI was done. They could only make it at most a one-point difference favoring the Lancers.

This was an oddity of a boys soccer game. The first half was more blase' than anything else for the Lancers, who were outplayed for the ball mostly. They did not get many shots on goal with two to MI's five.

No one scored in the first half and it was 0-0.

In the second half, the Lancers watched MI score seven minutes in to the 40-minute second half on a shot that really was hard for Miller to see, being shielded from the ball, and it put MI up, 1-0. Then, a scant four minutes later, MI scored a second goal as their captain and Seattle University bound Division-1 player, Radcliffe McDougal, pushed it by Miller inside the six-yard box.

That was it, though. That would be all the scoring of MI in this one as the Lancers suddenly began to control play of the ball. Something snapped.

"Apparently 2-0 was the wake-up call we needed," said Mullen.

Ding-Ding.

Exactly five minutes after MI scored its second goal to look like they would win easy, it was Vincent McCluskey, in the 56th minute, scoring. The play developed from the back, the very back. Miller, the goalie, actually took the kick, smashing it so hard it maybe took the MI defenders aback as it sailed over their heads to an on-running McCluskey, who knew what to do.

"I got my chest on it and kicked it in," said McCluskey.

How did you get behind the defense like that?

"I didn't even know what the goalie was doing, but he kicked it right over the defense," said McCluskey.

It was a beautiful kick.

"That was probably the best ball he's (Miller) hit all year," said Mullen of the free-kick boot that went in to McCluskey going into the 18. The kick was taken by Miller from around the 50-yard line, so it had to be a shot and it was to make it 2-1.

It wasn't going to be long after until another shot would be going in for the Lancers as playmaker Armitage, near the 18 yard box right corner top, dribbled in a little and pushed the ball to the right corner where wing McCluskey crossed it. Ryan Monson, a senior captain, trapped it and smashed it home to tie it at 2-2.

One more try then, with two minutes left from Muschett, a shot from the six-yard box that was blocked came for the Lancers, who in the last 30 minutes just dominated MI.

Yes, something snapped to have the Lancers add two goals after MI's two second-half scores, which is, by the way, four goals in a 23 minute span of soccer.

What snapped?

Actually, Mullen said the lull of play a little slow in the beginning was more from a mental nap than a snap.

"When they play I think it affected them,"said Mullen. "When you usually are in school at the time this game started (1 p.m. start), you have to mentally get going. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores too, and they need to get acclimated to the environment."

So, the Lancers were back in it so suddenly, when it had looked like they were going to be left for dead only 10 minutes into the second half, down two goals and just not playing well up to that point in the game.

"Apparently 2-0 was the wake-up call we needed," said Mullen.

Now only one game remains for this Lancers team that has come a long ways this season. Mid-season, they lost to Mount Rainier, 3-0, and, then toward the end of the regular season in the Seamount they were beat, 1-0, by Highline.

"We found out after that game we had a lot more to get better at," said McCluskey. "I'm pumped. We're ready. We've fought through some struggles this season. We're here now. It is a great accomplishment."

But this team has stayed as one and it means now they are playing for the top spot that 90 other 3A schools in the state of Washington don't get to do.

What a comeback!

"Heck of a comeback," said assistant coach Doug Stamnes, longtime boys coach and the one in charge of the Lancers' last state title in 1999. He was so in wonderment by this one that he was doing a shake of his head almost with saying that quote. It was something. It really was a great game to watch a team looking down and out after almost three-quarters of the game come back and put the other team out.

"We hang out together," said Miller. "We are a strong team together. Tony brings a lot of energy. Vince, VINCE, MY BOY. I know I am excited. I know the team is excited."

Should be exciting.

A shootout, too, is something exciting the Lancers have had already. The Lancers, to get to this point, first beat Eastmont (Yakima), 1-0, in a shootout, winning 7-6.

"We practice PKs in practice every day, as soon as the playoffs come," said Mullen. "And it gave us confidence in this one from our last shootout. That one went to the seventh shooter."