VANCOUVER — King’s Way Christian’s team speed was just a bit too much for Elma to handle on Thursday as the Knights topped the Eagles 3-0 in a District IV 1A tournament match at King’s Way.

The Knights will advance to face Montesano in the district title game on Saturday, while Elma will battle Seton Catholic for third place at noon at King’s Way today with the final state berth from District IV on the line.

The Knights displayed a full offensive onslaught from early on in the match on Thursday. In the 10th minute, King’s Way had shots by Bethany Hutchin and Andrea Finley hit the crossbar less than ten seconds apart.

“(King’s Way) is a really fast, powerful team and I was really pleased with my girls at how they played,” Elma coach Scott Rockey said. “They played with their hearts out tonight. They were hustling, they were moving and putting out fires and continuing to try and possess and make things happen.”

MacKenzie Ellerston scored the eventual game-winning goal in the 20th minute. Ellerston juked a defender and fired a shot just out of the reach of Elma goalkeeper Holli Ray to give the Knights a 1-0 lead, which they would take into halftime.

While Elma displayed solid defense throughout the match, the Eagles struggled to string together the passes necessary to get their offense within striking distance.

“All I can say is we came and we did what we could do,” Rockey said. “We’d connect two or three passes and then make a pass and it was intercepted or we’d lose it and that was pretty much the story of the night.”

In the 45th minute, Ellerston dished a quick pass to a wide open Payton Pulicella who bent a shot into the top left corner. Ellerston would get an assist from Finley in the 57th minute for the games final goal.

Elma’s best offensive opportunity came in the 64th minute. The Eagles earned a corner kick and the ball was batted around in front, but Elma couldn’t get a shot on goal before the Knights cleared the ball away.