Montesano comes up clutch, advances to state final four

Timmons’ save, King’s game-winner lead Monte to 4-2 PK shootout win over Tenino in state quarterfinals

By Ryan Sparks • November 14, 2021 2:00 am
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano midfielder Jaiden King, right, dribbles away from Tenino’s Kamryn Oliviera and Holly Thorin (20) during a 1A State Girls Soccer Tournament quarterfinal match on Saturday in Tenino. King would score the decisive goal in Monte’s 4-2 penalty-kick shootout win.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano midfielder Jaiden King, right, dribbles away from Tenino’s Kamryn Oliviera and Holly Thorin (20) during a 1A State Girls Soccer Tournament quarterfinal match on Saturday in Tenino. King would score the decisive goal in Monte’s 4-2 penalty-kick shootout win.

In the most pressure-packed of moments, Montesano goal keeper Riley Timmons and midfielder Jaiden King delivered.

The destination is the state semifinals.

Timmons’ diving save and King’s subsequent game-winning conversion gave Montesano a 4-2 penalty-kick shootout win over Tenino in a 1A State Girls Soccer Tournament quarterfinal matchup on Saturday at Tenino High School.

After a full 80 minutes of play and two five-minute, sudden-death overtime periods failed to produce a goal for either team, the game went to a penalty-kick shootout with a spot in the state final four on the line.

Seventh-seed Montesano (17-2 overall) had not competed in a PK shootout the entire season while No. 15 Tenino (15-6) was coming off a shootout victory to upset No. 2 South Whidbey in a state first-round matchup on Wednesday.

For Monte’s first three shooters, Jaiden Morrison and Emma Salazar converted their attempts while Mikalya Stanfield’s shot sailed over the crossbar.

Tenino midfielder Megan Letts’ attempt sailed high, followed by PK goals from Morgan Miner and Kamryn Oliviera, tying the shootout at 2-2.

Bulldogs midfielder Paige Lisherness calmly placed her shot into the back of the net to give Monte a 3-2 lead.

Beavers defender Ashley Schow then stepped to the mark and drove a hard shot to the left side of the net. But Timmons guessed correctly, diving to smother the attempt then pounding the ground in celebration.

“We do (penalty kicks) all the time at practice. We are constantly practicing them, always working on new techniques — trying to distract (the shooters) and mentally mess them up,” Timmons said of her approach to the shootout, one in which she used a bit of psychological warfare to gain an advantage. “I stared them in the eye, clapped my hands at them and got loud.”

Timmons’ save set off a roar among the large contingent of Monte faithful that made the trip east, but all fell silent just moments later as it was Jaiden King’s turn to make some Montesano magic.

With a berth in the state semis at her feet, the junior midfielder struck the ball into the right side of the net as Tenino keeper Abby Severse guessed left, giving Montesano the 4-2 victory on penalty kicks and sending the Bulldogs to the state semifinals for the first time in school history.

“I was really nervous. I felt like if I looked to the left, (Severse) would go there and I’d kick it to the right,” said King, who played a little psychological warfare of her own. “I was really relieved (it went in). It felt really good.”

As for the game, it was Monte that did the better part of controlling possession and creating offense, though the Bulldogs struggled to produce any dangerous scoring chances against the defensively-minded Beavers.

Monte’s best chance to score came in the final two minutes of the second overtime period when the Bulldogs were awarded a direct free kick two yards outside the Tenino penalty area. Morrison quickly toe-tapped a horizontal pass to Stanfield, who blasted a shot that was blocked by an oncoming Alivia Hunter.

Though they were outshot 16-7 by Montesano, Tenino nearly scored on two long, high-arcing Hunter direct free kicks in the first half, one that bounced off the crossbar and precariously along the goal line before Timmons could scoop it up, then another later in the half where Timmons had trouble corralling the wet ball before securing the rebound.

Monte’s inability to create optimal scoring chances is something Bulldogs head coach Fidel Sanchez addressed after the game.

“We did not want to go to PKs in Tenino, … So we said, ‘Let’s stay away from that. Let’s win the game outright,’” he said. “(Tenino) did a good job with their plan to disrupt what we do, disrupt the passing, disrupt the rhythm. They did a great job of that. I thought we fell into that trap too much. We did not take the quality shots that we wanted to take. That’s something we struggled with a lot tonight. … We were on them, but we couldn’t get a goal.”

Despite the problems scoring in regulation, Sanchez said his players “stepped up huge” in the PK shootout and commended Timmons for making the critical save on Schow.

“We talked about that. We said, ‘Hey, all you’ve got to do is stop one and everything will be OK after that,’” he said.

King admitted the lack of offensive-production was “getting in our heads a little bit,” but said the team got together to refocus and get back in the right frame of mind.

“We kind of just talked about it as a team and said, ‘If we win this, we get a banner for our school and we get to go travel,” she said before providing her thoughts on what it meant to score, up to this point, the biggest goal in program history. “It’s a pretty big deal for me.”

PHOTO BY SHAWN DONNELLY Montesano players greet Jaiden King, far right, after junior midfielder converted the fourth and decisive goal in a penalty-kick shootout to defeat Tenino 1-0 (4-2 on PKs) in a WIAA 1A State Girls Soccer Tournament quarterfinal match on Saturday in Tenino.

PHOTO BY SHAWN DONNELLY Montesano players greet Jaiden King, far right, after junior midfielder converted the fourth and decisive goal in a penalty-kick shootout to defeat Tenino 1-0 (4-2 on PKs) in a WIAA 1A State Girls Soccer Tournament quarterfinal match on Saturday in Tenino.

Montesano will face No. 3 Deer Park at 2 p.m. Friday in a semifinals at Shoreline Stadium. Win or lose, the Bulldogs are guaranteed another game after that, either in the third/fourth place game or in the championship game the following Saturday.

“It’s really exciting because this is the first time that this has happened for Monte soccer and it’s just really exciting for the whole team and the coaches,” said Timmons, who made five saves in regulation and overtime.

“They wanted a banner really bad in the gym. They don’t have one for girls soccer. They see them for fastpitch, football, cross country, wrestling, cheer, they don’t have one for soccer. Now they get one,” Sanchez said. “Now how big of a banner they want is up to them.”

Montesano 0 0 0 0 — 1

Tenino 0 0 0 0 — 0

(Montesano wins 4-2 on penalty kicks)

Scoring Summary

First half — none

Second half — none

First overtime — none

Second overtime — none

Penalty kicks — Montesano 4 (Morrison G, Salazar G, Stanfield NG, Lisherness G, King G); Tenino 2 (Letts NG, Miner G, Oliviera G, Schow NG)

PHOTO BY SHAWN DONNELLY Montesano goal keeper Riley Timmons dives to make a save on a shot by Tenino’s Ashley Schow in the penalty kick shootout of a 1A State Girls Soccer Tournament quarterfinal match on Saturday in Tenino.

PHOTO BY SHAWN DONNELLY Montesano goal keeper Riley Timmons dives to make a save on a shot by Tenino’s Ashley Schow in the penalty kick shootout of a 1A State Girls Soccer Tournament quarterfinal match on Saturday in Tenino.

PHOTO BY SHAWN DONNELLY Montesano players storm the field after Jaiden King converted the fourth and decisive goal in a penalty-kick shootout to defeat Tenino 1-0 (4-2 on PKs) in a WIAA 1A State Girls Soccer Tournament quarterfinal match on Saturday in Tenino.

PHOTO BY SHAWN DONNELLY Montesano players storm the field after Jaiden King converted the fourth and decisive goal in a penalty-kick shootout to defeat Tenino 1-0 (4-2 on PKs) in a WIAA 1A State Girls Soccer Tournament quarterfinal match on Saturday in Tenino.