Tuesday's Girls Soccer: Bearcats and Beavers Tie in Thriller

TENINO — It’s the exact scenario goalkeepers have in their head when they’re dreaming of the biggest save of their careers.

W.F. West’s Abbey Duffey lined up a penalty kick for the win in stoppage time after Madi Mencke was fouled in the box. Tenino’s Abby Severse had other ideas, making the save before the final whistle blew moments later to end the game in a 1-1 tie in a non-league girls soccer game here on Tuesday.

Severse noted she read the hips of Duffey to be able to make the save.

“When I got on the line, I always look at their hips so usually they kick to the right so last minute, I decided to go left,” Severse said. “When I went there, when I saw it, I was so relieved. All the pressure just came off me and it was uplifting and I felt really good.”

This is not the first penalty kick she’s saved this season, stopping one in the first game of the season against Napavine.

“We’ve got to stop fouling people in the box but she made a couple big ones last year in a shootout,” Tenino coach Kevin Schultz said. “We have a lot of confidence in her. She’s a warrior, she’s a competitor. She’s going to do whatever we need to win so we knew she’d find a way.”

The game was merely two minutes in before lightning was seen and delayed the game for 30 minutes. W.F. West’s Madi Mencke was able to draw first blood once the game resumed, securing the ball and firing a shot into the net in the 31st minute for a 1-0 lead at intermission.

Tenino pressed to get the tying goal in the second half and finally got it in the 67th minute. Brieanna Dell lined up a corner kick that deflected off of a W.F. West defender and into the goal.

Each team had chances to try and take the lead, but no opportunity bigger than the penalty kick in stoppage time.

“We do (work on it in practice), not so much this time of the year because we typically don’t worry about kicks from the mark until league season starts but that’s typically one of the things the girls do before kind of at the beginning of practice before we really get started when they show up and stuff,” W.F. West coach Allen Anderson said. “It’s alright, we’ll get the next one. If we’re going to miss in a game, I’d much rather be in a non-league game so we’ll grow from it and learn.”

Despite the result and the miss at the end, Anderson was pleased with his team considering the circumstances.

“It was kind of just a weird night. We show up, we have the delay for lightning, it’s pouring rain. We got all of our energy up, started the game really well and then the lightning and it’s hard to get them to bring that energy back up after waiting for 30 minutes and only getting five more minutes to warm their bodies up,” Anderson said. “This is our first game on turf this year and it definitely showed with our first touches and the weight of our passes just weren’t quite on. It’s kind of hard for us to replicate this surface in training, especially where we train. Overall, I’m happy with the girls getting a decent result. It felt like it was a game we probably could have pulled out at the end.”

Schultz was happy with his team’s performance and noted the value of tough non-league games before getting into Evergreen League play.

“I thought we played well. This is what you want out of a non-league game is a good competitive, tough game. I thought both teams, we scrimmaged each other twice in the summer and saw two good games,” Schultz said. “Again tonight, we knew it was going to be tough. They’re missing a couple starters, we’re missing a couple starters, but we just competed through all of it. It’s one of those games you wish was your last non-league game before league started so you really got that good test, but I thought we played really well.”

W.F. West (3-0-1) travels to Hoquiam on Thursday for a non-league contest. Tenino (1-0-1) will host Aberdeen on Thursday.

Centralia Falls to Mark Morris

LONGVIEW — Centralia had trouble generating offense here on Tuesday, falling to Mark Morris 8-0 in a non-league girls soccer game.

Centralia coach Henry Gallanger noted the play of Carissa Kaut in net, filling in after the starting goalkeeper was injured. He also commended the play of Lola Montee.

Centralia (0-3) is back on the road on Thursday, facing Evergreen at 6 p.m. in Vancouver.