The first round of the WIAA 1A State Girls Soccer Tournament was not kind to two East County teams as we review Wednesday’s games.
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GIRLS PREP SOCCER
University Prep 2, Montesano 0
Montesano’s three-year run into the state Final Four came to an end with a 2-0 loss to University Prep in a WIAA 1A State Tournament first-round game on Wednesday at Montesano High School.
The Bulldogs (13-7 overall) and Pumas (10-5-2) played evenly throughout the first 25 minutes of the game, with University Prep having an advantage in possession and offensive opportunities.
The Pumas scored first when junior midfielder Sophia Smith got the ball near the right edge of the 18-yard box and sent what appeared to be a cross toward the Bulldogs goal with traffic in front of Monte keeper Izzie Taylor.
The ball deflected off a player in front and slowly bounced its way through the crease and just inside the far post for a goal in the 29th minute.
Monte had few scoring chances in the first half against a steady Pumas defense that played mistake-free on the back line.
The Bulldogs’ best chance to score was when a rare long ball the got past the Puma defense was chased by Bulldogs sophomore forward Jaelyn Butterfield, but the University Prep defense recovered to get to the ball and clear it as the Bulldogs trailed 1-0 at halftime.
The second half was much of the same, with Monte having slightly more success retaining possession in the Pumas half of the field, but without shots getting on net to show for it.
PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano junior midfielder Lex Stanfield (left) looks to pass during a 2-0 loss to University Prep in a 1A State Tournament first-round game on Wednesday in Montesano.
Playing poised and holding possession, University Prep would get the insurance goal when senior midfielder Rian Fitzpatrick scored on a deep-angled shot to the far post from inside the Monte goal box for a 2-0 lead in the 63rd minute.
The Pumas nearly made it 3-0 on a shot that deflected off the Monte crossbar and continued to pressure the Bulldogs defense over the final 10 minutes of the game, with Taylor making a leaping, one-handed deflection to keep the score where it was.
Time ran out on Montesano as the Bulldogs’ season ended in the first round of the state tournament with a 2-0 loss.
“We’ve got to execute. That’s what it comes down to,” Monte head coach Fidel Sanchez said of the loss. “We had to play a perfect game tonight and we played an 85% game tonight. We had to play perfect and I know it’s hard to do at the high-school level, but we had to have no mistakes and a couple of things just got away from us.”
The loss ends Montesano’s three-year run of reaching the state’s Final Four, including a third-place finish last season, the highest in school history for the girls soccer program.
“These girls gave us a lot of time and a lot of effort,” Sanchez said. “That void of not being in the Final Four is what they are upset about. That’s how you know it’s special getting there. Three years in the Final Four, no other team around here can say that – in Thurston County, Lewis County and Grays Harbor – no one can say that.”
Reflecting on the season, Sanchez said he was proud of how his team performed in a year where several key players were injured over vast swaths of the season.
“I said I was proud of them. I said, ‘You were district finalists and co-league champions,’ and they played hurt,” he said. “We’re not 100% by no means. … It’s hard and the girls gave us everything they had and then some. They are a heck of a group to coach, and I had fun coaching them.”
University Prep 1 1 – 2
Montesano 0 0 – 0
Scoring
First half – 1, University Prep, S. Smith (Kung), 29th minute.
Second half – 2, University Prep, Fitzpatrick, 63rd minute.
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Eastside Prep 5, Elma 1
Four first-half goals spelled the end of Elma’s season in a 5-1 loss to Eastside Prep in a 1A State Tournament first-round game on Wednesday at Sammamish High School.
Elma (11-7-2) got behind early and never recovered against Eastside Prep (12-4), trailing 4-0 by halftime.
“They were just much better than us,” Elma head coach Evan Valentine said. “The team worked really hard and gave it what they had. I’m very proud of them and it has been an honor to coach them.”
Elma’s lone goal came in the final five minutes of the game and involved two of its top seniors that have been playing together since they were toddlers.
Midfielder Miley Seaberg worked a give-and-go with forward Beta Valentine, with Valentine scoring off the assist from her friend and cousin.
“Quite fitting really,” Coach Valentine said of the goal, which was the 108th goal of his daughter’s illustrious prep career. “It was a good run.”
Elma 0 1 – 1
Eastside Prep 4 1 – 5
