For the second time this month, a single goal was all Aberdeen needed to dispatch of its Myrtle Street rival Hoquiam.
Dominique Trevino’s goal in the 72nd minute proved to be the difference as the Bobcats defeated the Grizzlies 1-0 on Saturday at Stewart Field in Aberdeen.
The victory was the second 1-0 victory for Aberdeen over Hoquiam this season after the two teams played to the same result in the season opener on Sept. 7.
The two teams played evenly through the first two-thirds of the game, with Aberdeen getting the better quality chances. But the Bobcats were unable to break through an improved Hoquiam defense and standout senior goalkeeper Katie Burnett.
Aberdeen’s best chance to break the scoreless tie came in the 69th minute when sophomore Britt Rajcich ripped a laser-beam of a shot toward the Hoquiam net. But Burnett took two steps to her left and made a leaping two-handed save, deflecting the ball harmlessly away from the Grizzly goal.
“She’s come a long way,” Grizzlies head coach John Johnson said of Barnett. “Just her alertness and awareness of what is going on in the field is starting to climb. It’s progressing a lot more and that’s what we need from her.”
But just a few minutes later, Hoquiam fell behind on a most fortunate goal by the Bobcats.
A 50/50 ball was sent toward the edge of Hoquiam’s 18-yard box. As the ball bounced in the air, Trevino, Burnett and a Hoquiam defender all collided. All appeared to get a foot on the ball at the point of contact. The ball then arced toward the Grizzly net and bounced in for the game’s only goal.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen midfielder Dominique Trevino, left, controls possession against Hoquiam’s Jemima Perez during the Bobcats’ 1-0 victory on Saturday in Aberdeen.
“We went to stop it, one of our defenders went to clear it out and bam, bam, that just happened,” Johnson said of the Aberdeen goal.
Hoquiam (1-4 overall) pushed for the equalizer, but was unable to get anything past an Aberdeen defense led by junior co-captain Aili Scott and keeper Char Gutierrez, who calmly scooped up anything the Grizzlies threw at her.
“She is one of the few (Bobcats) with a lot of experience on varsity,” Aberdeen head coach Larry Fleming said of Gutierrez. “She’s super smart. … She did a great job the last few games of calling for the ball early and she has such good skills now. … She’s real smart about when to come out and almost always chooses the right decision.”
The game started at approximately 6 p.m. but due to the threat of lightning strikes, it was halted a little over two minutes into the contest and delayed for over a half-hour before play resumed.
Though the two games between the teams this season ended in the same result, Johnson said his team is developing continuity that is starting to show with better play on the field.
“I don’t know if there was a huge difference (between the two games). I just think they played really well tonight,” he said. “I think the biggest difference is the touches on the ball and the communication between the mids and the defenders being able to drop it and push it back up. … They’ve got more chemistry as the season has gone on.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Hoquiam midfielder Jemima Perez gets a foot on the ball in a 1-0 loss to Aberdeen on Saturday at Stewart Field in Aberdeen.
Fleming was pleased with the win — which moved Aberdeen to 5-1 overall this seasons — but he is looking for his team to get off to a better start.
“I can’t use the excuse that there was a lightning break because (Hoquiam) had the same break,” he said. “We’re just such slow-starters that in the first half we just struggle. I guess it’s that experience thing again because you can tell them that on the wet turf it’s going to be something different, that they really have to get in front of the ball and cushion it because it’s going to be skipping off turf. … The second half I thought we did a better job overall of controlling the ball better.”
Hoquiam 0 0 — 0
Aberdeen 0 1 — 1
WOMEN’S COLLEGE SOCCER
Lower Columbia 8, Grays Harbor 0
Grays Harbor kicked off its 2021-22 season with an 8-0 loss to Lower Columbia at Stewart Field in Aberdeen Saturday afternoon.
The Chokers (0-1 overall) surrendered four goals in each half en route to the season-opening loss.
Libby Brown led Lower Columbia (1-1) with a pair of goals as nine different Red Devils had either a goal and/or an assist in the contest.
Grays Harbor was out shot 32-5.
Former Hoquiam standout forward Sadie Carlyle led the Chokers with three shots on goal.
GHC winger Yuriah Morgan had two shots on goal for the Chokers.
Lower Columbia 4 4 — 8
Grays Harbor 0 0 — 0
North Beach 3, Morton-White Pass 2
Playing their third game in as many days, the North Beach Hyaks out-dueled Morton-White Pass in five sets for a 3-2 victory on Saturday in Ocean Shores.
The Hyaks (2-1 overall) won 25-18, 26-24, 16-25, 18-25 and 16-14.
“You could tell in Game 3 and 4 that my seven girls had played three days in a row,” North Beach head coach Jessica Preisinger said. “But, we battled back in Game 5 from an 11-6 deficit to win the match.”
North Beach senior Mady Eang controlled the floor with 12 assists and held a 96% passing and 95% service rating for the game.
Hyaks junior Kaci Osborne-Hansen had four kills to go along with a 100% passing rating while senior Maryah Wisner had six kills and four blocks for North Beach.
Morton-White Pass 18 24 25 25 14 — 2
North Beach 25 26 16 18 16 — 3
