The Mount Si Wildcats will make the 40-mile trek to Sparks Stadium in Puyallup for the 4A state soccer semifinals.

The Wildcats earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory against the Issaquah Eagles in a loser-out, 4A state quarterfinal matchup on May 18 at Gary Moore Stadium in Issaquah. Mount Si senior defender Reed Paradissis, who scored two goals in the contest, rose to the occasion with everything on the line. Paradissis scored on a penalty kick in the 16th minute, giving Mount Si a 1-0 lead. Mount Si sophomore Sully Smith added another goal in the 39th minute, extending Mount Si’s lead to 2-0.

Issaquah wasn’t deterred.

Eagles’ senior Taiga Crenshaw recorded his team’s first goal of the game in the 50th minute, cutting Mount Si’s lead to 2-1. Paradissis wasn’t happy after seeing his team’s lead sliced in half. On the ensuing kickoff, Smith passed the ball directly to Paradissis, who took a shot on goal from more than 55 yards away. The shot attempt, which caught Issaquah’s goalie off guard, found the back of the net giving the Wildcats a 3-1 lead in the 51st minute.

“Honestly, I was pissed that they just scored. I just told Sully to send it to me. I saw their keeper (goalie) was on the 18 (yard-line). It worked out. Most of those don’t work out, but that one did,” Paradissis said of his goal from long range.

Mount Si senior Drew Harris noticed Issaquah’s goalie out of position as well before the kickoff.

“I saw it and I know Reed saw it because he is a smart player. Their keeper was playing way off his line. If I was in his position, I would had done the same thing. It was a smart heads-up play,” Harris said.

With 16 minutes left in regulation, Issaquah cut the lead to 3-2 when Jack Higgins found the back of the net after receiving a perfect pass off of a corner kick from Crenshaw. With eight minutes left in regulation, Issaquah had a header shot on goal that caromed off the crossbar.

Paradissis was glad his team survived Issaquah’s rally late in the second half.

“Those guys (Issaquah) are really good. I think it just shows our grit. We are really good in the air,” Paradissis said.

Mount Si will face Ferris in the 4A state semifinals at 6 p.m. on May 24 at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.

“This is what we wanted. We wanted to go deep into state (tourney). We wanted to represent not only our school but the KingCo Conference and our Snoqualmie Valley. This is a really big deal to us,” Harris said.

Mount Si senior defender Reed Paradissis (No. 3) leaps high into the air to clear the ball with a header against Issaquah. Paradissis scored two goals (16th minute, 51st minute) in the contest. Photo courtesy of Calder Productions