MUKILTEO — In their season-opener at Kamiak High School on Friday, reigning 3A State finalist Shorewood boys soccer played ‘lights out.’
Not only did the Stormrays (1-0-0) secure a 3-1 victory against the Knights (0-1-1), but the field lights mistakenly shut off with around six minutes left to play. After a brief delay in total darkness, officials called the game. By the time the lights were restored, players and spectators were already walking to the parking lot.
After dominating possession for most of the match and finding the back of the net three times against a 4A opponent, Shorewood took a positive first step in its season.
The Stormrays lost only two starters from last year’s team, which captured the District 1 3A Championship and made it through the state tournament bracket before falling to Mercer Island 3-2 in the title game on May 31, 2025. With most of the team’s core back, and several newcomers elevating into the rotation, coach Shaun Warner believes this year’s team is stronger and deeper across the board.
That said, the players understand they’ll have to go out and earn the same respect that last year’s team established.
“It’s the first game of the season. We have expectations on us, but we’ve also not achieved anything yet this year,” senior Daniel Bruno said. “And that’s a big part of our identity, is that we want to prove ourselves. So coming out here today, we wanted to start the game with energy and show who we are as a team.”
It didn’t take long to do that, as the midfielder sparked the Stormrays’ opening goal in just the third minute. Bruno, who is playing more of an attacking role this year, placed the ball through a defender’s legs up to junior Julian Shook on the left wing, and the forward crossed it in to senior Kaito Ayers for the easy finish in front.
The Knights nearly tied it up seven minutes later when a free kick rebound left the ball on the goal line, but Shorewood senior Isak Medhaug managed to clear it out of danger to protect the lead.
“I just want to make sure to have each other’s back,” Medhaug said. “I trust my keeper, I trust our center backs to get that ball, but just in case, you just have to think ahead. I think we’re good at that, we’re pretty intelligent players. … Luckily, I got in front of it.”
Senior Nikola Genadiev doubled the lead for the Stormrays in the 18th minute, settling the ball along the right sideline and looping it into the top left corner from long-range in a highlight-reel worthy shot, but it took Kamiak just a minute to cut it to 2-1, capitalizing on a botched clearance attempt from Shorewood and getting enough numbers up top before junior Daniil Denysiuk finished the play.
Shorewood quickly recovered from the lapse and started stringing together chances, which were mostly sent wide when it came down to the final touch, but the ball rarely returned back to the Stormrays’ side for the rest of the first half.
Kamiak started to balance things out in the second half, which caused Shorewood to switch up their point of attack and open up the field more.
“They did a really good job of putting numbers in the midfield and playing a high back line,” Warner said. “So we noticed, and we started playing the ball over the back line and started running onto things, which now they had to start dropping, and it opened up everything for us.”
It resulted in a few more wide shots until Medhaug struck from well outside the 18-yard box, settling the ball down with his chest and firing a rocket past the unsuspecting Kamiak keeper to extend it to 3-1 in the 52nd minute.
“It was a good bounce off of my chest,” Medhaug said. “And you know, just encouragement from my teammates to shoot more. I can rip one sometimes. It felt good.”
Shorewood put together a couple more close chances down the stretch, but it was the Knights that appeared to put the ball into the back of the net next with a volley inside the box in the 67th minute. However, the officials ruled it to be a high kick, which kept the score at 3-1 through the game’s premature end in the 74th minute.
“We knew they were going to be a tough opponent,” Kamiak coach Travis Fortier said. “And so we just came in with a game plan of making sure we’re stepping to the ball and not allowing them to play that long ball. They were still successful with it, but not as successful as last game, last season (a 2-0 Kamiak loss on March 14, 2025).
“Honestly, they hit a couple bangers. Otherwise, it could be 1-1, and we had the questionable high kick call that called a goal off as well. I’m very competitive. It’s not very often that I will say that we did really well when we lost the game, and that was one that I felt like we played really well.”
Between a mix of graduates and long-term injuries among returning players, the Knights are left with six starters from last year’s team, which finished in the middle of the Wesco 4A table before falling in the opening round of the District 1/2 Tournament. After opening the season with a tough Shoreline swing — including a 1-1 tie with Shorecrest on March 11 — Kamiak hopes its progress will lead to better results as league play opens up.
As for Shorewood, Friday’s win marks the lone tune-up leading into four straight league games, starting with a clash against Edmonds-Woodway on Tuesday. Despite the winning result, the Stormrays feel they have more to build on as they begin their campaign to defend their district title, and take one step further at state.
“I think we showed a lot of flashes,” Bruno said. “We had like, probably 30 minutes of really good soccer today, which is encouraging, but it was also the first game. We’re a little rusty, and some of our passes, some of our touches were not quite there yet, so we’ll work on that. And yeah, we’re prepared for next week.”
