Elma earned its first win of the season with a key league victory as we review Thursday’s high school sports on the Harbor.

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Elma 4, Rochester 0

Led by a solid defensive effort and big games from two of its top-scoring seniors, Elma opened 1A Evergreen League play with a 4-0 victory over Rochester on Thursday at Davis Field in Elma.

The Eagles (1-4-1 overall, 1-0 1A Evergreen) had several chances to score in the first half, but failed to convert on multiple chances at the Warriors net in the latter part of the period.

Elma broke the scoreless tie when senior forward Beta Valentine sent a long cross toward senior midfielder Valerie Echeverria at the far post. Echeverria placed a shot past Rochester keeper Alondra Uribe for a 1-0 lead in the 40th minute.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Elma senior midfielder Valerie Echeverria (right) celebrates with teammate Beta Valentine after scoring a goal in the first half of a 4-0 win over Rochester on Thursday at Elma High School.

“I fell like it gave us a burst of energy,” Echeverria said of the goal. “At least for me, I feel like after I scored that first goal I just wanted to get back out there and start scoring more.”

Ten minutes into halftime, Echeverria and company did just that.

The Eagles used several give-and-go’s through the midfield before Echeverria fed Valentine, who took a touch past her defender and scored for a 2-0 lead.

Later in the second half, Echeverria penetrated deep into Warriors territory and centered a pass to Valentine, who used a body faint to throw off the defense and scored on a near-post shot from 8-yards out in the 71st minute.

Elma put the icing on the cake in the 78th minute when Echeverria collected a long cross into the penalty area and found Valentine with a drop pass.

Valentine did the rest, ripping a high, hard shot into the net from 10 yards for a 4-0 lead.

Elma head coach Evan Valentine said he could see the scoring chances were there for the taking against the Rochester defense, but his team had to fine tune its play to convert the opportunities in the second half.

“I could see it was there. We had all the things we needed to have. The only thing missing was a little bit of patience and focus to find that final 2-3 passes. That’s all it was,” he said. “We just needed to settle down a little bit and find our game. That was my message to them at halftime. A couple of smarter passes and a couple of better angles and I thought it would break through and it did.”

“(Coach Valentine) was telling us to start connecting better and play for each other,” Echeverria said of the second-half outburst. “I knew we were going to pull through. I knew our offense was good enough to do it.”

That turned out to be the case for Elma despite missing starting senior midfielders Mia Monroe and Miley Seaberg, forcing several young underclassmen to step into key roles in a league game.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Elma’s Aubree Simmons (17) and Beta Valentine (12) converge on the ball against Rochester’s Kyanna Estrada (2) and Piper Quarnstrom during the Eagles’ 4-0 w

“They did a great job. They were ready to play and took the opportunity to show me they were ready to go,” said Coach Valentine, who commended junior defender Natalie Henry with locking down the Warriors forwards. “She’s marked their best forwards completely out of the game. They were almost non-existent. … They had zero good opportunities because of it so I would say she is the player of the match.”

The win wasn’t only the first league win of the season for the Eagles, but also the first victory of the season as Elma faced a tough non-league schedule filled with state-playoff caliber teams in the 1A and 2A classes.

“It feels really good,” Echeverria said of the win. “We’ve been waiting for this. Praying for this.”

Elma hosts Tenino in a league matchup scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Davis Field.

Rochester 0 0 – 0

Elma 1 3 – 4

Scoring

First half – 1, Elma, Echeverria (Valentine), 40th minute.

Second half – 2, Elma, Valentine (Echeverria), 50th minute. 3, Elma, Valentine (Echeverria), 7 1st minute. 4, Elma, Valentine (Echeverria), Valentine (Echeverria), 78th minute.

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Other scores

Montesano 5, Tenino 1

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GIRLS PREP SWIMMING

Aberdeen 125, Shelton 53

Aberdeen dominated en route to a 125-53 victory over Shelton on Wednesday in Shelton.

Bobcats senior Mija Hood and junior Wendy Neil won two events apiece for a Bobcats teams that won all but one event on Wednesday.

“We finished with a very strong showing, winning 11 of the 12 events,” said Bobcats head coach Anne Eisele, who commended Hood, Neil and Hoquiam’s own Molly Gundersen for their performances at the meet. “That is a true testament to how hard they’ve been training.”

Aberdeen will host a meet that will include Centralia, W.F. West and Rochester at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Grays Harbor YMCA in Hoquiam.

Aberdeen top results

200-yard medley relay: 1, Aberdeen (Mija Hood, Wendy Neil, Ava Benn, Emma Mullins) 2:15.86.

200 freestyle: 1, Willow Valentine, 2:37.52. 2, Neil, 2:38.15. 3, Isabelle Melville, 2:44.26.

200 individual medley: 1, Gabby Orona, 2:50.06. 2, Gracie Qualey, 2:52.02. 3, Arianna Alavez, 2:55.38.

50 freestyle: 2, Mullins, 29.62. 3, Harnoor Jandu, 30.35.

1-meter dive: 1, Zahrya Graham, 122.65. 2, Ashley Groat, 42.40.

100 butterfly: 1, Hood, 1:08.77. 2, Alavez, 1:16.22. 3, Benn, 1:24.57.

100 freestyle: 1, Valentine, 1:07.78. 2, Mullins, 1:09.79.

500 freestyle: 1, Melville, 7:15.28.

200 freestyle relay: 1, Aberdeen (Qualey, Mullins, Benn, Jandu) 2:06.20. 2, Aberdeen (Valentine, Molly Gundersen, Neil, Alavez) 2:08.19.

100 backstroke: 1, Hood, 1:09.17. 3, Benn, 1:25.62.

400 freestyle relay: 1, Aberdeen (Hood, Jandu, Qualey, Orona) 4:33.80.

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PREP CROSS COUNTRY

Ocosta takes top spots at North Beach meet

Ocosta had several top placers en route to a victory in the boys team standings of the North Beach League Meet on Wednesday at North Beach High School.

The Wildcats placed first overall in the boys 5K team standings, led by top finishes by senior Osvaldo Guadalupe (20:31, 1st) and freshman Logan White (20:55.14, 2nd).

Ocosta scored 33 points followed by Ilwaco (41), North Beach (66) and Willapa Valley (86), which placed 2-4, respectively.

Freshman Colton Kempton was Valley’s top runner, placing fourth overall with a time of 21:06.

North Beach senior Sawyer Reither came in fifth with a time of 21:09.

Ocosta senior Rebekah Stone placed second overall in the girls race with a time of 23:51. Willapa Valley was the only school to field a full girls team and was led by seniors Kaitlyn Ganzel (25:35, 5th) and Jasmine Solso (25:56, 6th).

Full results available at athletic.net.

Results (local top 15)

Boys: 1, Osvaldo Guadalupe, Ocosta, 20:31. 2, Logan White, Ocosta, 20:55.14. 4, Colton Kempton, Willapa Valley, 21:06. 5, Sawyer Reither, North Beach, 21:09. 6, Billy Burns, Ocosta, 21:56. 8, Kenneth Frank, North Beach, 22:23. 11, Michael Priest, Ocosta, 22:52. 13, Quinn Leonard, Ocosta, 23:10. 14, Evan Barron, North Beach, 23:32. 15, Salvador Medrano, Ocosta, 23:55.

Girls: 2, Rebekah Stone, Ocosta, 23:51. 5, Kaitlyn Ganzel, Willapa Valley, 25:35. 6, Jasmine Solso, Willapa Valley, 25:56. 7, Elly Mirante, Ocosta, 29:37. 8, Lorelei Smaciarz, Willapa Valley, 30:54. 9, Denahli Hoylman, North Beach, 31:15. 10, Jayna Britt, North Beach, 31:23. 11, Anna Perkins, Willapa Valley, 31:41. 12, Meadow Yount, Ocosta, 33:52. 13, Elise Barron, North Beach, 36:13. 14, Reagan Seely, Willapa Valley, 40:14. 15, Ellie Zielesch, Willapa Valley, 40:44.