YAKIMA – Soon after his Davis boys soccer team game up an early goal in Wednesday’s Class 4A state tournament opener against Issaquah, Pirates coach Cristian Gonzalez tapped into a familiar spiel

“I tried the same old speech we’ve had all season, ‘We’ve been in this situation before,’” he said. “But we really haven’t at state.”

And that there is the rub.

Against state-caliber teams, the pep talks might not provide their usual spark. It certainly didn’t against a 13th-seeded Issaquah willing to get physical, subbed liberally, and thwarted every Pirates scoring opportunity.

The Eagles beat No. 4 Davis 3-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.

The Pirates finished the season 13-4-1, capturing the CBBN regular-season title followed by the district championship. Moments after their season ending, however, the season’s successes weren’t soothing the disappointment.

“It’s amazing in itself, which is what I tried to tell them,” Gonzalez said. “It’s just at the end of the day we wanted to be playing next weekend.”

Issaquah’s Eli Kim put a corner kick in the net less than 15 minutes into the game, stunning a team that had notched nine shutouts this season.

And the Eagles, survivors of two loser-out contests to get to state, rode their own staunch defense, unafraid to bump or grab the Pirates.

“They were coming at us and we tried to match them, but I’m not sure what happened today,” Gonzalez said. “They just don’t make mistakes, and when they did, we just didn’t capitalize.”

The more Issaquah stalled the Davis offense, the more the Pirates seemed to press.

“I think going down early and being in the situation we were in, we started to rush and not play our game,” Gonzalez said. “They kind of settled into their game.”

After taking a 1-0 lead into the intermission, a scramble in front of the Pirates net, an own goal made it 2-0 about 15 minutes into the second half.

With their deep roster, the Eagles subbed throughout the contest, getting the personnel it wanted in for specific situations.

“I told the boys it’s going to happen,” Gonzalez said. “You can plan and prep so much but once it’s in that moment, it doesn’t really matter.”

Any hopes of an unlikely Davis comeback withered in stoppage time, when Issaquah rolled in a corner kick, and a crossing pass was planted in the net for the final tally.

Issaquah (13-6-1) will head to league rival and fifth-seeded Newport on Saturday for a spot in the final four May 29-30 at Puyallup’s Sparks Stadium.