TOLEDO — The first half was tightly contested, but the second frame was all Toledo in a 4-1 Central 2B League girls soccer victory over Napavine here on Thursday.
Mandy Trujillo drew first blood for the Indians, but Grace Hamre knotted things up for a 1-1 halftime score. According to Toledo coach Noel Vasquez, the Indians psyched themselves out early, preventing themselves from taking the usual assault approach.
"We were anticipating plays before they even developed in the first half," Vasquez said. "We were getting caught up in ourselves and chased a lot."
The Indians came out with a renewed game plan, dominating the ball by matching the Tigers physicality. Another Trujillo score was followed by goals from Ally Bacon and Courtney Moore to put the game in hand for Toledo.
"We talked and made arrangements to start playing tighter and tried to stay as physical with them as they were with us," Vasquez said. "We started winning balls and our passing game started clicking."
Alyssa Ewers and Ashlyn Rustan were credited for their physical effort on defense. Sally Martin recorded her ninth assist of the season and goalkeeper Meeghan Peters had 10 saves for Toledo.
The Indians (5-3, 5-2 league) will travel to Onalaska and Napavine (3-8, 2-5 league) will host Life Christian Academy on Tuesday.
Life Christian Finish Cardinals, 3-1
TACOMA — Ball movement was up to par for the Cardinals, but an inability to finish once again plagued Winlock in a 3-1 Central 2B League girls soccer loss to Life Christian Academy here on Thursday.
After holding the Eagles to just a goal in the first half, the Cardinals never managed to even the score until it was far too late. Jessica Neal's goal in the 79th minute via a Chloe McGeary assist couldn't make up for the two additional Life Christian goals in the second half.
"We've been working a lot on combining and passing well," Winlock coach Kevin Schultz said. "I feel like we went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in our league and the difference is they finished our opportunities and we didn't."
Cheleena Squibb had eight saves in goal for the Cardinals.
Winlock (0-7 league, 1-9 overall) will host Evergreen Lutheran on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Pirates Shut Out Ocosta
WESTPORT — Kassidy Thomas scored her first goal of the season, and the Pirates stayed undefeated with a 2-0 Central 2B League girls soccer win over Ocosta here Thursday.
Thomas scored in the third minute, and Kendra Stajduhar assisted freshman Rachel Burke later in the first half for what would be the final 2-0 margin.
The Pirates allowed Ocosta just two shots on goal.
"Our back line, with Kelsey (Aselton), Melyssa (Nocis), Julia (Dallas) and Olivia (Rodriguez) really work well together," Adna coach Juli Aselton said. "We seemed to be a step ahead of Ocosta the whole night, and keeper Ashley (Pardue) made the save when needed."
Ocosta (7-2-2) keeper Emily Bjornsgard stopped 16 Pirate shot attempts in the contest.
Adna (9-0, 7-0 league) will play a nonleague game at Castle Rock at noon on Saturday.
