Montesano appeared to be in playoff form as the Bulldogs routed Goldendale 9-0 in the opening round of the 1A District 4 Tournament on Monday at Jack Rottle Field in Montesano.
Montesano (9-2 overall), the top seed out of the 1A Evergreen League, scored early and often against the Timberwolves, which placed fourth in the Trico League.
Zoee Lisherness scored off a cross from Jaiden Morrison in the fifth minute of the game to open the scoring. Four minutes later, Morrison scored on a solo effort to give Monte a 2-0 lead.
The Bulldogs’ Brooke Streeter scored in the 16th minute followed by a goal from Bethanie Henderson in the 18th minute to put Monte up 4-0 with less than 20 minutes of game time elapsed.
Leading 4-0 at the half, Monte was right back at it after the break, scoring in the opening minute of the second half when Lisherness scored on a feed from Cassadie Golding.
Montesano’s Zoee Lisherness, right, collides with Goldendale’s Payton Sheridan during a first-round district playoff game on Monday in Montesano. (Ryan Sparks | The Daily World)
Elleah Jones would score on an assist from Paige Lisherness, followed by a solo goal from Paige Lisherness to make it a 7-0 game later in the half.
Goals from Hannah Bruland and Henderson would complete the scoring.
Montesano had 22 shots in the game, 14 on goal while keeping Goldendale from recording a shot the entirety of the match.
The dominant performance was something Monte head coach Fidel Sanchez liked to see in an opening-round playoff game, though he noted some improvements still need to be made.
“The only thing I can say that we can improve on is not keeping the ball in a crowded middle and recognizing when to play out of there,” he said. “I thought we forced it a little too much in the middle, but I loved seeing the passes on the wings and flanks where my outside backs were making runs … We moved on the outside really well tonight. I’d just like to see us improve in the middle a little bit more.”
Montesano will take on the Trico League’s No. 2 seed — the La Center Wildcats — in a district semi-final game at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in Montesano. La Center boasts an 8-1-1 overall record and defeated Elma 5-2 in a playoff opener on Monday.
Sanchez said the coaching staff will prepare his team for what to expect against a solid La Center squad.
“It gets harder. The next opponent will be better defensively and the next game will be more defensive-minded,” he said. “We do have the firepower, so I’m comfortable with that, but we are going to have to find ways to score because (the remaining playoff teams) are stingy.”
When asked if there is any concern that Goldendale didn’t pose much of a test on Monday, Sanchez stated that his defense gets tested every day in practice against top offensive athletes.
“We test (our defense) in practice against our attacking players,” he said. “Our attacking players are the best in the league. … We throw Paige (Lisherness), Zoee (Lisherness) and Brooke (Streeter) at them and we expect them to defend that, so they get the practice.”
Goldendale 0 0 — 0
Montesano 4 5 — 0
Other scores
1A District 4 Tournament
No. 2 La Center 5, No. 3 Elma 2
No. 1 King’s Way Christian 5, No. 4 Hoquiam 1
No. 2 Tenino 3, No. 3 Castle Rock 0
BOYS TENNIS
Aberdeen competes in first day of sub-districts
After the first day of the three-day 2A Evergreen sub-district boys tennis tournament, several Aberdeen student-athletes are still alive.
With first-round wins on Monday in Tumwater, Aberdeen singles players Colton Faulkner and Ashdon Swope both advanced to Tuesday’s competition of the double-elimination tournament.
Same goes for the Bobcats’ doubles pairing of Andrew Troeh and Kyle Miller, who advanced with an opening-match victory in Black Hills.
The top two from each sub-district will advance to the district meet on Friday.
Singles — No. 4 Colton Faulkner (AB) def. Connor O’Dell (Centralia) 6-0, 6-2; No. 5 Gabe Cuestas (WF West) def. Colton Faulkner (AB) 7-5, 6-2; No. 6 Ashdon Swope (AB) def. Parker Anderson (Black Hills) 6-1, 6-1; No. 3 Justin Chung (WF West) def. Ashdon Swope (AB) 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles — No. 4 Jay Lovingfoss/Wyatt Wagner (Shelton) def. Foster Patterson/Daniel Garcia (AB) 6-0, 6-1; No. 6 Andrew Troeh/Kyle MIller (AB) def. Corbin Kreie/Sean McCullough (Shelton) 6-1, 6-4; No. 3 Jacob Blomdahl/Aaron Boggess (WF West) def. Andrew Troeh/Kyle Miller 6-1, 6-1.
