WESTPORT – With the help of two goals early in the second half, Ocosta pulled off the upset against Adna.
The Wildcats (6-5, 8-5) won their second meeting with Adna, 2-1, after falling 2-0 on Sept 20.
The loss to the Wildcats was the Pirates’ first league loss of the season with their only other loss coming to a 4A team. Adna (10-1, 10-2) placed third at state last year and was ranked second among Class 2B teams.
Wildcats head coach Mike King said it was the best effort he has seen from his team all season.
“That was our best game of the year. We got down against the number two team in the state and we didn’t let that affect us at all,” he said. “We knew we had outshot them in the first half and we were controlling the ball so we came out and just wanted to tie it up. We got that second goal and it was just unbelievable.”
Despite Adna’s superior record, the two teams played evenly for the entirety of the first half. The Wildcats sometimes allowed runs into the box but got bailed out by their goalie Kristi Raffelson and did not often allow the Pirates second chances at loose balls.
When defender Ryann Raffelson attempted to break up an early attack from the Pirates she was called for a questionable foul in the box that led to a penalty kick.
Kristi Raffelson guessed right on the direction of the kick but could not get her hand on it and gave Adna a 1-0 lead.
Most of the play remained around midfield but the Wildcats were able to get a few scoring chances of their own. However, the Wildcats’ keeper was not often tested as many shot attempts went wide of the goal or were blocked by Pirate defenders.
King said the success of his back line depended on an adjustment the team made after the first meeting with Adna.
“Last time (Payton Aselton) controlled the whole game and was just running around all of our people,” he said. “Kjirstin Hopfer is a very good defender and we put her on Aselton and that helped us a lot to adjust to her passes.”
The Wildcats coaching staff implored the forwards to take a more active role in the attack and King said he liked what he saw from the strikers in the last 40 minutes of the game.
The offense responded and outshot Adna 8-5 in the second half. Teal Mitby’s direct kick deflected off the goal post. With the ball loose in the box, Hopfer, who was moved up from the back line, put away the rebound to draw the game even.
The game-winning goal came about when Kennedy Merino found Katelynn Denny in open space who took a shot that snuck under the cross bar in the 62nd minute.
Ocosta will celebrate senior night against Napavine on Wednesday. The Wildcats are hoping to make up for the 6-5 loss they suffered when they faced Napavine on the road earlier in the year.
Rain is expected to soak the field but King thinks the rainy weather will work to his team’s advantage.
“That’s our kind of game. The other team is traveling and doing a two-hour bus ride,” he said. “They upset us last time so we want to come out and really play hard on Wednesday.”
