After suffering a tough semifinal loss to Columbia (White Salmon), Montesano rebounded to beat Eatonville and earn a trip to the state tournament.

BOYS PREP SOCCER

Montesano 3, Eatonville 1

Montesano earned a trip to the 1A State Tournament with a 3-1 win over Eatonville in a 1A District 4 elimination game on Saturday at Tenino High School.

The Bulldogs (14-6 overall) and Cruisers (11-8) played through a back-and-forth first half, with Monte holding possession but having to hold off chances on the Eatonville counter-attack.

“They were determined and you could tell,” Monte head coach Fidel Sanchez said of the Cruisers. “We wanted to take that away from them.”

In the second half, a tactical change by the Cruisers likely helped open up the offense for Monte, according to Sanchez.

“They were stacking two forwards next to each other on one side. It gave us a headache sometimes, but not to the point where we couldn’t stop it,” he said. “They took that away (in the second half) and put one of the forwards in the midfield and they weren’t creating as much attack. … We started taking advantage of the midfield more and started generating a ton of attacks.”

Monte’s first two goal were produced off corner kicks, with Spencer Lovell scoring off a Felix Romero assist in the 48th minute followed by Levi Clements doubling the Bulldogs lead off Romero’s second assist of the game in the 61st minute.

Nolan Swenson sent what Sanchez called “a beautiful ball from the wing” to Romero, who slotted home a shot for a 3-0 lead one minute into stoppage time.

Eatonville scored a garbage-time goal on a penalty kick in the 86th minute to close out the scoring.

The Bulldogs had 13 shots in the game – 10 on target – and had five corner kicks.

Montesano goal keeper Cohen Andersen made three saves in the game to earn the victory.

The Bulldogs enter the 1A State Championship Tournament as the No. 17 seed and will face No. 16 Klahowya at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Klahowya High School.

“We’re in and after that White Salmon loss, we had a sour taste in our mouths,” Sanchez said. “To get back to the state tournament again, it was tougher. The expectations are much higher now and our district got better as far as overall soccer. There were more competitive teams in our district than in years past. So it was tough for us to get in there.”

Montesano 0 3 – 3

Eatonville 0 1 – 1

Scoring

First half – none.

Second half – 1, Montesano, Lovell (Romero), 48th minute. 2, Montesano, Levi Clements (Romero), 61st minute. 3, Montesano, Romero (Swenson), 81st minute. 4, Eatonville, 86th minute.

Columbia (White Salmon) 2, Montesano 0

Montesano’s run as reigning 1A District 4 champions came to an end with a 2-0 loss to Columbia (White Salmon) in a district-semifinal game on Thursday in Montesano.

The Bulldogs (13-6) were held scoreless for just the third time this season as the Bruins (13-2) consistently thwarted Monte offensive pushes with sound midfield play.

“They are the best midfield I’ve seen this year,” Montesano head coach Fidel Sanchez said of the Bruins. “They are a tough team.”

CWS took the Bulldogs crowd out of the game early when sophomore midfielder Matt Miller hit a hard, low shot from more than 30-yards out that skittered past Monte goal keeper Cohen Andersen and inside the near post for a goal 13 minutes into the game.

Monte’s would spend most of the half trying to solve the riddle of the Bruins midfield, which was positioned well, consistently intercepting Monte first passes and clearances to thwart Bulldogs attacks before they got started.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano midfielder Cris Tobar (right) and Columbia (White Salmon) forward Isaac Reynoso compete for possession during the Bulldogs’ 2-0 loss in a 1A District 4 semifinal game on Thursday in Montesano.

A Monte scoring chance in the first half came via one of its best offensive weapons, a long throw-in from junior forward Felix Romero akin to a corner-kick. Monte senior midfielder Levi Clements got his head connected to one of Romero’s throw-ins in the 28th minute, but Columbia (White Salmon) goal keeper Alfonso Serrato was sharp, making the save.

A Romero cross toward the Bruins goal in stoppage time was headed by senior midfielder Luke Clements, but was deflected just over the crossbar to keep the score at 1-0 entering the halftime break.

In the first 10 minutes of the second half, Montesano gained more consistent offensive-zone time with better on-ball pressure at midfield.

But the Bulldogs pressure mattered not as Miller gained possession, weaved his way through the Montesano defensive third, and scored on a low shot to the far post for a 2-0 lead in the 52nd minute.

Montesano had its chances in the second half, particularly in a three-minute span where Romero had multiple consecutive throw-in attempts toward goal.

But none of the attempts connected on the back end, keeping Monte in a 2-0 hole with time winding down.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Columbia (White Salmon) defender Alexander Baldwin (9) collides with Bruins goal keeper Alfonso Serrato as Montesano forward Felix Romero looks to score during the Bulldogs’ 2-0 loss in a 1A District 4 semifinal game on Thursday in Montesano.

“We had more than a few of those opportunities and I wish we would’ve cashed one in,” Sanchez said. “We just headed the ball the wrong way. We headed it too soon, to low, to high. It wasn’t meant to be.”

Bulldogs reserve goal keeper Enrique Mendoza kept Monte in the game with three critical saves over the final 15 minutes of the game, but the Bulldogs offense failed to produce a goal in suffering the loss.

“We played better possession in the first half than we did in the second half. In the second half, we just panicked,” Sanchez said. “Down 2-0, you just panic and you don’t do much after that. … (CWS) is a top-5 team in the state. That’s a good team.”

Though the goal of being the first Bulldogs soccer team to win back-to-back district titles is gone, Montesano still has a chance to earn a trip to the state tournament with a victory over Eatonville in a win-or-go-home elimination game at 1 p.m. Saturday in Tenino.

“The beauty of taking first in league is you get two cracks at this,” Sanchez said. “Yeah, it would’ve been nice to get the district title for the second year in a row, but that is not to be, so let’s go get to the state tournament. That’s where we belong. This team should be in the state tournament so let’s show the state we belong there.”

Columbia (White Salmon) 1 1 – 2

Montesano 0 0 – 0

Scoring

First half – 1, CWS, Miller, 13th minute.

Second half – 2, CWS, Miller, 52nd minute.

Eatonville 3, Raymond-South Bend 2

A controversial call led to the end of Raymond-South Bend’s season in a 3-2 loss to Eatonville in a 1A District 4 elimination game on Thursday in South Bend.

The Ravens (14-4) trailed 1-0 until a goal by freshman forward Jose Ramirez tied the game in the first half.

Eatonville (11-7) scored to make it a 2-1 game followed by a penalty-kick goal from Ravens junior midfielder Edgar Ramirez to tie the game at 2-2.

With the outcome hanging in the balance, an Eatonville player held possession and attacked down the left touch line. An RSB defender made a challenge on the play, clearing the ball away as the unidentified Eatonville player went down. The referee blew the whistle, calling a foul and a penalty kick for the Cruisers.

Eatonville converted the penalty kick to go up 3-2 and hand Raymond-South Bend a season-ending loss.”

“It seemed to me that our defender cleared the ball, before the attacking player went down,” Ravens head coach Joe Keegan said of the controversial play. “Not a happy ending to the game. I can accept losses, but the call seemed wrong.”

Eatonville 1 2 – 3

RSB 1 1 – 2

La Center 2, Elma 1

(La Center wins 4-3 on penalty kicks)

Elma’s hopes of advancing to the state tournament were dashed with a 2-1 loss (4-3 on penalty kicks) in a 1A District 4 elimination game on Thursday in Elma.

The Eagles (11-10) fell behind 1-0 when the Wildcats (8-12) scored after some miscommunication in the Eagles defense in the 34th minute.

Elma tied the game when Ivan Rodriguez stole the ball and beat the La Center keeper with a shot to the near post in the 63rd minute.

The game went to a penalty-kick shootout, with the Eagles taking a 3-2 lead after Theo Flores saved the Wildcats’ third attempt.

But the next two Elma shots failed to find the back of the net while La Center converted its attempts to earn the victory, ending the Eagles’ season.