East County teams had a rough time on the final day of the 1A District 4 Tournament as both Montesano and Elma suffered losses on Saturday.

1A District 4 Championship

La Center 3, Montesano 0

Montesano’s woes in district-title games continued with a 3-0 loss to La Center on Saturday in Tenino.

Playing tentative from the opening whistle, the Bulldogs (12-5-2 overall) quickly fell behind when La Center’s standout senior forward Shaela Bradley knifed through the Bulldogs defense and blasted a shot from the top of the box that ripped into the top far corner of the net for a 1-0 lead just four minutes into the game.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD La Center’s Shaela Bradley, middle, is pursued by Montesano’s Bethanie Henderson, right, and Izzabelle Taylor during the Bulldogs’ 3-0 loss in the 1A District 4 Championship game on Saturday at Tenino High School.

Later in the half, the Wildcats (16-2) doubled their lead when senior winger Mikaela Bright scored off an assist from midfielder Natalie Maunu for a 2-0 lead La Center would take into halftime.

Fortunes didn’t change for Monte after the break as a long free kick from Bradley was chased down by Wildcats senior Madisen Newbury while surrounded by pursuing Monte defenders. Newbury got her head on the ball to flick it past oncoming Bulldogs keeper Riley Timmons – who took a shot to the face and was banged up on the play – for a definitive 3-0 lead in the 51st minute.

Monte’s best chance to score came with just under 16 minutes left in the match when senior forward Mikayla Stanfield belted a free kick from 30-yards out near the far sideline. The ball sailed toward the top far corner of the La Center net, but Wildcats keeper Sophia Johnson leapt to deflect the ball out of bounds and preserve the shutout.

“They wanted it more. They had more heart,” Montesano head coach Fidel Sanchez said of La Center, which he praised for having a team-wide intensity in the game. “They had more grittiness than we did. We didn’t show up and you can’t show up passively playing soccer. You have to have the passion to win the title and we didn’t have it today, they did.”

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano’s Adda Potts, right, and battles for possession with La Center’s Lauren Baker during the Bulldogs’ 3-0 loss in the 1A District 4 Championship game on Saturday in Tenino.

Montesano didn’t generate much offense with just two shots in the game – one being on-target – and one corner kick while being called for seven fouls.

It was the third straight defeat for the Bulldogs in the district-title game and eighth in the past nine years of reaching the section championship.

Sanchez said if his team is to make it to the semifinals of the state tournament for a third-consecutive season, it can’t perform the way it did on Saturday.

“If we’re going to come in and compete for district titles and go deep in state, we’ve got to play harder than this. We did not do anything to show for that today and that’s the disappointing part,” Sanchez said. “That falls on me. I’ve got to get my teams ready to play at that level.”

The veteran coach said his team needed to be more aggressive to the ball, something it had done throughout the season that led to success against some of the state’s top-ranked teams.

“We’ve got to win the ball. We’ve got to go to the ball. We’ve got to stop players on the dribble. We’ve got to keep the ball longer,” he said. “Everything we’ve been doing decent this year, we didn’t do it today. We’re here because we’ve been tough. We were not tough today.”

Montesano earned a No. 6 seed in the 1A State Tournament and will face No. 11 Bellevue Christian in a first-round game on either Tuesday or Wednesday (time, date, location to be determined).

Montesano 0 0 – 0

La Center 2 1 – 3

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Elma senior Eliza Sibbett (11) dribbles away from Seton Catholic’s Lydia Hawkinson during the 1A District 4 third-place game on Saturday at Tenino High School.

1A District 4 Third-Place Game

Seton Catholic 2, Elma 1

(Seton Catholic wins 3-2 on penalty kicks)

Elma’s season ended in gut-wrenching fashion, falling to Seton Catholic in a penalty-kick shootout in the 1A District 4 third-place game on Saturday in Tenino.

The Eagles (14-5) trailed the Cougars (14-5) early when junior midfielder Jessica Barrett sent a high-arcing free kick from 25-yards out toward the Elma net. The ball bounced toward the far post and bounded untouched into the net for a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute of the game.

The match would remain 1-0 into the second half as Elma started to do a better job of holding possession and creating offensive chances.

After several Elma opportunities were just off the mark or saved by Seton Catholic keeper Hailey Hammerstrom, the Eagles earned another shot with a corner kick in the 65th minute.

Junior Beta Valentine sent the corner kick toward the backside of the Cougars net. Senior midfielder Eliza Sibbett made a precise run to the ball and headed it past Hammerstrom and inside the far post to tie the game at 1-1 with 15 minutes left to play.

“When we needed something, we got something and that’s what good players are supposed to do. They are supposed to make it happen and she did,” Elma head coach Evan Valentine said. “It was awesome, it was a really good goal.”

Both teams would have their chances through the end of regulation and two five-minute overtime periods, but neither team would score, sending the match to a penalty-kick shootout.

Elma quickly fell behind 2-0 in the shootout after a shot by Miley Seaberg was saved and an attempt by Valentine beat Hammerstrom but rang off the post.

Eagles seniors Aaleigha Weld and Sibbett converted Elma’s next two attempts to cut the shootout deficit to 3-2.

Cougars sophomore GG Lougen stepped to the spot with the game, and a state-playoff berth, at her feet. Lougen sent a well-placed shot to the top right corner of the net, but Elma all-state senior keeper Emmie Spencer made the save of the match, sprawling out on a fully-extended dive to get a hand on the ball and deflect it off the top of the post to keep Elma’s season alive.

But Elma’s adulation was short-lived as senior defender Mia Monroe – who secured a district title for the Eagles with a PK conversion last season – sent a shot that hit the crossbar and ricocheted away, ending the shootout 3-2 in favor of the Cougars.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Elma senior Mia Monroe, right, defends Seton Catholic’s Lydia Hawkinson during the 1A District 4 third-place game on Saturday at Tenino High School.

After winning the district title and reaching the state tournament a season ago, bowing out in the district playoffs leaves a bitter taste on the Eagles palettes.

“My expectations of the team were that we should have been moving on,” Coach Valentine said. “On the back of our practice jerseys we have a saying, ‘In soccer, you don’t deserve anything. You either take it or you don’t.’ And we didn’t take it and that’s on us.”

After the loss and unexpected early exit, Coach Valentine was still searching for reasons as to how Elma’s season suddenly came to an end.

“I’m racking my brain trying to figure out that answer,” he said. “We’re going to have to work our butts off or something because I’m tired of losing games like this when it shouldn’t be happening in the first place.”

Elma 0 1 0 0 – 1

Seton Catholic 1 0 0 0 – 2

(Seton Catholic wins 3-2 on penalty kicks)

Scoring

First half – 1, Seton Catholic, Barrett, 10th minute.

Second half – 2, Elma, Sibbett (Valentine), 65th minute.

Overtime – None.

Penalty-kick shootout – Seton Catholic 3 (Moore G, Barrett G, Lauder G, Lougen NG). Elma 2 (Seaberg NG, Valentine NG, Weld G, Sibbett G, Monroe NG).