Aberdeen celebrated its Senior Night in grand fashion by romping over Shelton 6-0 on Friday at Stewart Field in Aberdeen.

The Bobcats (14-0 overall, 11-0 2A Evergreen League) scored three goals within the first 20 minutes of the game and recorded their 10th shutout of the season in extending its school-record winning streak to 14 games.

Aberdeen got on the board in the fifth minute when senior forward/midfielder Carlos Mendoza redirected a steep-angled cross from junior midfielder Gio Ambrogiani for a 1-0 lead.

Just two minutes later, Bobcats senior midfielder Gilberto Lopez ripped a shot into the high corner of the Highclimbers net for a 2-0 lead.

Aberdeen completed its first-half blitz when junior forward Elmer Torres punched in a rebound off an Evan Cone shot for a 3-0 lead in the 18th minute.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen junior forward Elmer Torres acknowledges the crowd after scoring a goal in the first half of the Bobcats’ 6-0 victory over Shelton on Friday at Stewart Field in Aberdeen.

“Senior Night is always a tough one. I’m sure any coach in any sport will say that,” Aberdeen head coach Larry Fleming said. “There’s a lot of stuff going on besides soccer, so I said, ‘As soon as your senior stuff is done, focus on the job. Get after it and do everything that is going to help us not just tonight, but Tuesday and into districts. Do all your celebrating later. Let’s focus on playing good soccer.’ And we really played really well from the beginning.”

In the second half, Ambrogiani sent a long, high-arcing ball over the Shelton defense. Aberdeen senior winger Colby Mendoza beat the oncoming Shelton keeper to the ball, knocking it into the net with a leaping knee for a 4-0 lead in the 50th minute.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Colby Mendoza, backround, heads the ball over Shelton’s Kaedence Salazar during the Bobcats’ 6-0 win on Friday in Aberdeen.

Cone followed with a header goal off an assist from senior midfielder Edwin Quintana to extend the lead to 5-0 in the 58th minute.

Bobcats keeper Antonio Granados was then moved up into a forward position and was rewarded when he scored the Cats’ final goal of the game off a Juan Serrano assist in stoppage time.

“It’s exciting. It’s like the community is behind our backs,” Aberdeen senior defender and co-captain Alan Avalos said of the win in front of a large Senior Night crowd. “The (youth soccer) kids came out and played at halftime. … I looked up the the high-schoolers when I was a young kid. So I hope they look up to us too.”

While the win had little effect on the league standings – with the Cats having previously locked up the league title and No. 1 playoff seed – the pressure of performing on Senior Night in front of a large crowd of family and friends was not lost on the Aberdeen coaching staff and players.

“Coach (Fleming) said, ‘Save the pictures for after the game. Let’s get the job done,’” said Avalos. “When we are on the field we are focused on just one thing, and that is winning.”

“It’s been special because we usually don’t get nine players for four years. They’ve spent a lot of time together and have got better and better every year,” Fleming said of his record-breaking senior group. “It’s a good group of boys and, for the most part, they get along really well and it’s a deep team. We rotate and the level of play is still pretty high.”

The Bobcats celebrated it most successful senior class of Hugo Garcia, Javier Garcia, Gio Castillo, Julian Garcia, Alan Avalos, Gilberto Lopez, Edwin Quintana, Colby Mendoza, Estevan Isidro, Carlos Mendoza, Austen Gomez, Maiko Torres and Antonio Granados on Senior Night before the start of the game.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen midfielder Carlos Hernandez (15) pushes the ball upfiled in a 6-0 win over Shelton on Friday in Aberdeen.

Aberdeen is currently ranked No. 2 in the latest WIAA rankings, mere percentage points behind perennial state-powerhouse Columbia River, and will close out the regular season at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Centralia.

Aberdeen will host a 2A District 4 playoff game on Saturday.

After being ousted in a home playoff game in last season’s district tournament, Avalos said the Cats are working on plugging any holes to keep the ship on course.

“We just have to fix the mistakes,” he said. “Anything small, we need to patch it up because we want to get that state spot.”

The Bobcats junior varsity team picked up a 1-0 win on Friday, with Isidro scoring the lone goal for the Bobcats.

Shelton 0 0 – 0

Aberdeen 3 3 – 6

Scoring

First half – 1, Aberdeen, Ca. Mendoza (Ambrogiani), 5th minute. 2, Aberdeen, Lopez, 7th minute. 3, Aberdeen, Torres, 18th minute.

Second half – 4, Aberdeen, Co. Mendoza (Ambrogiani), 50th minute. 5, Aberdeen, Cone (Ca. Mendoza), 58th minute. 6, Aberdeen, Granados (Serrano), 80th minute.

Montesano 3, Elma 2

Montesano held off a late Elma rally to remain perfect in the 1A Evergreen League with a 3-2 win on Friday at Davis Field in Elma.

The Bulldogs (13-1, 13-0 1A Evergreen) held a 3-0 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game before the Eagles scored two late goals to close the gap.

Monte went up 1-0 when junior midfielder Jiovanny Torres scored off an assist from senior midfielder Mateo Sanchez in stoppage time of the first half.

After halftime, the Bulldogs extended the lead when Sanchez scored two goals within 10 minutes to put Monte up 3-0 in the 53rd minute.

Montesano remained in control of the game until late in the game, when Elma mounted a comeback.

The Eagles broke the shutout when junior midfielder Jose Perez scored off an assist from junior midfielder Cason Seaberg in the 75th minute.

Just two minutes later, Elma cut the deficit to one when a long ball over the Monte defense was chased down by Seaberg for a goal.

But the Eagles comeback fell short as Monte’s defense held firm over the final few minutes to secure the season-sweep over Elma.

“We were not happy. They got an earful from us, that’s for sure,” said Montesano head coach Fidel Sanchez of his postgame speech. “But at the end of the night, nobody got hurt, we are pretty healthy going into the last week of the season and we got the win.”

The Bulldogs have allowed just eight goals in league play this season, a stat that’s importance is not lost on Coach Sanchez.

“That to me jumps out more than anything,” he said. “We have a team that is really hard to score on and we have a lot of scorers on the team. That makes for a deadly combination.”

Montesano’s JV team won 3-2 on Friday, with sophomore midfielder Nolan Swenson scoring two goals for the Bulldogs.

Montesano ranks No. 2 behind Quincy in the WIAA RPI rankings and will look to complete a perfect league season against Ilwaco at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Ilwaco.

Elma (8-7, 8-5) will be the league’s No. 3 seed entering the playoffs and will take on second-place Eatonville in the regular-season finale at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Eatonville.

Montesano 1 2 – 3

Elma 0 2 – 2

Scoring

First half – 1, Montesano, Torres (Sanchez), 40th minute.

Second half – 2, Montesano, Sanchez, 44th minute. 3, Montesano, Sanchez, 53rd minute. 4, Elma, Perez (Seaberg), 75th minute. 5, Elma, Seaberg, 77th minute.

Tenino 4, Hoquiam 3

Hoquiam missed a chance to take control of the league’s No. 4 spot after a 4-3 loss to Tenino on Friday in Hoquiam.

The Grizzlies (6-8, 6-7) took a 1-0 lead with a goal by freshman forward Ulises Morelia off an assist from senior midfielder Rene Garcia in the 5th minute.

Max Craig score for Tenino to knot the game up at 1-1 in the 19th minute, but Hoquiam regained the lead when junior defender Jose Fabian fed junior defender Daniel Cortez-Verdejo for a goal in the 32nd minute.

Craig scored two consecutive goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half to give the Beavers (6-9, 6-7) a 3-2 lead.

The Grizzlies tied the game at 3-3 when junior Mason Kelly was fouled in the box. Freshman Sergio Martinez Ortiz converted the penalty kick in the 75th minute to send the game to overtime.

In the first overtime period, Tenino’s Tyler Minerich scored off an assist from David Espinoza to hand Hoquiam the loss.

“I think just the heat and miscommunication showed an opportunity for Tenino to find that overtime goal,” Hoquiam head coach John Johnson said. “It is never fun to lose, but this game was a great game again. We are having to make adjustments in positioning due to players being out, but the guys are really stepping into their roles. It is exciting to see.”

Hoquiam sits in a three-way tie for fourth place in the 1A Evergreen League with Tenino and Raymond-South Bend.

The Grizzlies have a non-league matchup against Rochester scheduled for 5 p.m. on Monday in Hoquiam.

On Wednesday, the Grizzlies take on Raymond-South Bend in the regular-season finale at 6 p.m. in South Bend.

Scoring

First half – 1, Hoquiam, Morelia (Garcia), 5th minute. 2, Tenino, Max Craig (David Espinoza), 19th minute. 3, Hoquiam, Cortez-Verdejo (Fabian), 32nd minute.

Second half – 4, Tenino, Craig, 42nd minute. 5, Tenino, Craig (Espinoza), 49th minute. 6, Hoquiam, Martinez Ortiz, 75th minute. 7, Tenino, Tyler Minerich (Espinoza), 84th minute.

Other scores

Raymond-South Bend 3, Eatonville 2

GIRLS PREP GOLF

Aberdeen 109, Black Hills 59

Aberdeen continued its red-hot play with a 109-59 victory over Black Hills on Friday at Highland Golf Course in Cosmopolis.

Under warm, clear skies, the Bobcats won for the third time this week.

Cats standout Britt Rajcich opened her 9-hole round with a birdie and to shoot a 40, scoring 31 points to lead all competitors (Stableford scoring system).

Kaitlyn McCracken (25 points) and Alice Earley (21 points) each scored more than 20 points for the Bobcats with Keara Burns adding 18 points and first-year golfer Harnoor Jandu scoring a career-best 14 points.

The victory was the third this week for Aberdeen after taking home the team title in the Sibley Tournament on Monday and winning a 2A Evergreen League tri-meet on Wednesday.

“We played lights out today. I believe the warm weather has a positive influence on us,” Aberdeen head coach Dan Sundstrom said. “It was just a great week to be a Bobcat.”

Aberdeen (109): Britt Rajcich 31, Kaitlyn McCracken 25, Alice Earley 21, Keara Burns 18, Harnoor Jandu 14.

Black Hills (59): Grace Hurley 18, Mayah Hamilton 17, Jess Serl 13, Elllie Johnson 11.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Elma’s girls golf team (from left) Sophia Hamilton, Maddie Clark, Taylor Staples, head coach Alexis Keating, Aubrey Moore, Camberly Burgess and Olivia Moore won a three-way meet over Montesano and Hoquiam on Thursday at the Grays Harbor Country Club.

Elma 212, Montesano 213, Hoquiam 264

Led by a low-score performance from Olivia Moore, the Elma Eagles won a three-way meet over Montesano and Hoquiam on Thursday at the Grays Harbor Country Club in Aberdeen.

Moore’s 9-hole round of 41 earned her Medalist honors for the top score of the meet, one better than Montesano standout and state runner-up Hailey Blancas.

Elma’s Aubrey Moore (55), Sophia Hamilton (56) and Taylor Staples (60) rounded out the Eagles’ team score of 212, finishing just one stroke better than Montesano.

Hoquiam finished with a team score of 264, led by Molly Gunderson’s round of 60.

Elma (212): Olivia Moore 41, Aubrey Moore 55, Sophia Hamilton 56, Taylor Staples 60.

Montesano (213): Hailey Blancas 42, Jessie LaLund 54, Audree Dohrmann 57, Maggi Kupka 60.

Hoquiam (264): Molly Gunderson 60, Eva Jump 61, Kora Bisner 77, Brittany Churlin 77.

GIRLS PREP TENNIS

W.F. West 6, Aberdeen 0

W.F. West swept Aberdeen in a girls tennis match on Friday in Aberdeen.

Singles: Viviana Ibanez (W.F. West) defeated Hadley Ritter (Aberdeen) 6-3, 6-3. Emma Hamilton (WF) def. Ashlee Jacobs (A) 6-0, 6-2. Katelyn Wood (WF) def. Menge Lopez (A) 6-0, 6-0.

Doubles: Mari Ceesay/Laura Yip (WF) def. Madi Ritter/Natalie Mareth (A) 6-0, 6-1. Lillian Huffed/Ema Weerasinghe (WF) def. Annika Nestwich/Kimberly Manterano (A) 6-1, 6-1. Jamie Bradley/Eli Mittge (WF) def. Jordyn Bacon/Anais Carderas Salazar (A) 6-0, 6-0.