Prep Girls Soccer: Kicking Things Off

The first matchup of the preseason girls soccer jamboree at Tiger Stadium on Thursday pitted the Tigers versus the Tigers. One team wore black and orange stripes. The other wore white kits with a tiger’s head emblem.

At first glance it looked like just another intrasquad scrimmage in the second week of fall practice. But the two teams were not the same school. They were not even the same classification, with 2B Napavine sporting the white jerseys and the 2A hometown team from Centralia sporting the tiger stripes.

That odd pairing was all part of the plan for Centralia coach Henry Gallanger, who helped assemble the competition by digging deep in his rolodex. In the end Gallanger was able to dial up commitments from 2B Napavine, Toledo, and Adna, 1A Tenino and the newly combined team from South Bend/Raymond, 2A W.F. West, and 3A Timberline.

“There might be some David vs Goliath stuff out there but the whole idea is to have an 8th day of practice that’s different from the rest,” explained Gallanger, who did not shy away from scheduling hefty mismatches.

In that first match of the day, a 20-minute scrimmage like all the rest, Centralia was able to best Napavine 3-0 behind a pair of goals scored by Alayana Miller, a junior. Anastasia Ulrigg, a senior, punched in the third and final score for Centralia and Rebekah Robbins, a junior, made a habit of mixing it up in the middle of the offensive attack.

“It’s nice that you get to practice against other teams other than your own team and just see something different,” said Gallanger. “In twenty minutes we learned a little bit about what we need to work on.”

Gallanger was particularly pleased with his team’s success in stringing together successful passes while simultaneously preventing their opponent from getting up even one shot on goal. Still, he says defense will continue to be a focus prior to the team’s first regular season game versus W.F. West next Tuesday.

“We’re a little bit shaky there,” said Gallanger, whose team played South Bend/Raymond in their second contest. “We’ve also learned that sometimes the best defense is to just keep the ball on your side.”

In the second affair of the evening, Timberline took on Toledo in what represented the largest mismatch of school sizes. Timberline, out of Lacey, serves 1,812 students while Toledo, home of Cheese Days, serves just 249 students. Despite that vast discrepancy the Indians were able to hold the Blazers to a scoreless tie that was flash preserved on a last second save by first-year goalkeeper, Kal Schaplow.

“I’m actually pretty pleased with how we played defensively,” said Toledo coach Noel Vasquez.

Vasquez said that Megan Quinn a senior defender, and Rylan Richardson, a senior wing, will anchor the Indians on game days this year. However, on Thursday he reserved the largest share of praise for Schaplow, who he stole from the cross country team in order to stick her in the goalie box.

“She probably had five saves but the most important one of the game was that last one where they just blasted it and she got her hand up and knocked it out of bounds to keep it tied,” said Vasquez.

Vasquez noted that his team is inexperienced in many spots this year. The Indians played South Bend/Raymond in their second contest and Vasquez said the pair of preseason matches were vital since all 16 of Toledo’s regular season games are league contests this year. That schedule change was necessitated by the addition of Toutle Lake to the league. The Indians will open up their league schedule on Tuesday versus Ocosta.

“It’s going to be a new experience this year, but I’m excited,” said Vasquez.

The Tenino Beavers took the field for the first time under the direction of first year coach Kevin Schultz on Thursday and bested Napavine 3-0 in that brief action. They later faced off with Adna.

The first two of those goals against Napavine were scored by Abby Severse, a freshman, who even utilized a goofy-footed cross field kick to notch her second score.

“We have a lot of good freshman. She brings a good attacking mindset,” said Schultz.

Brieanna Dell scored the Beavers third goal. She is a sophomore coming off a freshman season in which she announced her presence with authority.

“I really liked that we were able to get the ball into wide open spaces,” said Schultz. “We play fast but when I have the ball at my feet I don’t want a ton of touches. You want to wear out the other team so that you can win games in the second half.”

Schultz said that shoring up the defensive rotations will be a big focus leading up to their first regular season game versus Spanaway on Tuesday.

“We’re definitely an offensive-minded team but the big identity for us is that we have nine seniors who came within one game of the state tournament last year,” said Schultz.

It was a tough go for Napavine on Thursday and the Tigers are obviously reeling from the loss of eight seniors from last year's roster.

“We came out today with open and eyes and just take some notes. We didn’t have any goals in particular,” said Napavine coach Emily Boettcher. “We’re just working on restructuring our team.”

One bright spot for Napavine was the inspired play by Chloe Stewart, a junior midfielder. Stewart, the twin of the team’s goalkeeper Lela, was the force behind the vast majority of Napavine touches on the offensive end of the field. She also repeatedly sacrificed her body for the cause,absorbing the full impact of a well struck ball on too many occasions to keep count.

“She’s that magnet player. We call her the Energizer Bunny, she just never stops,” said Boettcher. “She could really become a very good player with just a little more work.”

Boettcher says that the Stewart twins will be leaned upon heavily for leadership by her team. She added that another pair of sisters, Calyx and Xoee Pope, are also likely to become big contributors for the Tigers. She also listed Makensee Taliaferro Bouge, a freshman midfielder, as a player with potential to help pick up the slack.

Adna and W.F. West paired up in one of the most spirited contests of the evening and the Pirates wound up escaping with a 1-0 advantage. That single goal was scored by Payton Aselton on an ankle breaking isolation drive after 8:42 of game play.

Despite the deficit on the scoreboard W.F. West coach Allen Anderson remained confident that his team will still find their most potent form.

“I’ve got some girls who haven’t really played at this level before,” said Anderson. “Today was all about us and figuring out how to get better.”

Anderson listed Kelli Roberts, a sophomore defender, as a varsity newcomer who will likely find herself in heavy rotation for the Bearcats. He said that Roberts has great speed and only needs to gain experience to become a true force on the pitch.

Anderson said he asked his team to be aware of their “shape” on the field on Thursday by focusing on their offensive and defensive rotations. He said the team will likely be lead by seniors Courtney Bennett and Aiden Ellingson, along with a trifecta of talented sophomore forwards. He also said that goalkeeper Aeryn Elder has all of the intangibles to put together a brick wall of a season for the Bearcats.

“Now it’s all about putting it all together and getting that chemistry,” said Anderson.

As for Adna, coach Juli Aselton is putting plenty of faith in her quadrant of captains going forward. Those team-voted leaders are Cierra Swenson, Payton Aselton, Brynn Arrington and Makaela Meister. She added that a fast crop of forwards will help to keep the pressure on opponents.

On Thursday though, when Adna faced W.F. West and Tenino, Aselton was simply happy for an opportunity to compete against unfamiliar foes with deep and athletic rosters.

“I think the girls saw that we were playing a big, fast, athletic team right out of the gate and they were a little bit nervous. I thought they did a good job of settling down and making the easy pass,” said Aselton. “We know it’s going to help us in league. You play these tough, fast girls now and try to figure out how to move the ball around them with good passing. It becomes a huge benefit once you are back playing smaller schools.”

The Pirates will begin their 16-game league schedule next Thursday at Napavine.