No settling for Camas in this semifinal

Alyssa Tomasini signed, sealed and delivered the Camas girls soccer team to the state championship game on a breathtaking goal in the last 10 minutes of Friday’s semifinal at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.

“I lost my breath the whole time, just watching that ball hit the back of the net,” Tomasini said. “All of my teammates coming out and tackling me after the game was over, that was the greatest feeling ever. I’ve never scored a bigger goal.”

The Papermakers defeated Skyline 1-0 for their 20th victory and 19th shut out of the season. Defenders Perri Belzer, Ashley Carter, Sarah Davidson and Marley LeFore put their bodies on the line to keep the Spartans at bay.

“We just want to sacrifice everything because we only have one game left, and we’re seniors. We’ve got to leave our mark,” Davidson said. “We’ve set almost every single record for Camas. We want to get another one because we haven’t won a finals since 2005.”

Goalkeeper Julia Coombs protected the net with several saves. She dove to the left to stop a potential game-tying goal for Skyline in the last five minutes.

“This is my responsibility now,” Coombs told herself after Camas took the lead. “My team put in all the hard work for me, Alyssa put the ball in the back of the net, it’s my turn to repay them.”

Head coach Roland Minder was proud to watch the Papermakers rise to the occasion against a fast and physical team.

“Before the game, I asked them, ‘What does 2009, 2012 and 2015 all have in common?’ After the semifinals, I had to give a consolation talk,” he said. “We’re not doing that today. It’s our turn. We’re tired of consolation talks. And they came through.”

It’s down to Camas (20-0-1) and West Valley, Yakima (18-2) in the state championship game Saturday, at 4 p.m., at Sparks Stadium. These two teams faced each other on Sept. 10, and the Papermakers won 1-0.

There’s still one more goal left for this Camas girls soccer team to achieve. A final dream to make come true.

“We’re all ready for tomorrow,” Coombs said. “We made it this far. We have to finish it out.”