State soccer has finally arrived and five local teams are headed to the opening round of their respective state tournaments.
Toledo is the top-seeded team in the area, taking the fifth seed in Class 2B after placing third at the District 4 tournament. Onalaska is the No. 6 seed in 2B after a fourth-place finish at districts and Adna is No. 8 after placing second at districts. In 1A, Tenino received the 15th seed after finishing third at districts, and in 2A, the EvCo champion Tumwater was given the No. 9 seed after its third-place finish at districts.
Here are previews on all five matchups with dates, times, locations and what to expect.
2B: No. 5 Toledo (13-5) vs. No. 12 Friday Harbor (6-8-1) — 2 p.m., Wednesday, at Black Hills High School
The skinny:
Toledo enters the state tournament after finishing the regular season with an 11-4 overall record and the Central 2B League South Division’s No. 3 seed in the District 4 tournament. After knocking off the North Division’s No. 2 seed, Napavine, in their district opener, the Riverhawks fell to Kalama in the semifinals then defeated division rival Onalaska in the third/fourth-place match on Saturday. They are now the No. 5 seed at state and will host No. 12 Friday Harbor on Saturday.
The Riverhawks are the highest-scoring team in The Chronicle’s coverage area with 90 total goals, and four girls notching double-digit goals.
Senior Marina Smith, the South Division’s Offensive MVP, leads the county with a school-record-tying 28 goals, so far, to go with 10 assists. Briza Gallegos has 15 goals, Vanesa Rodriguez has tallied 12 and Rose Dillon has put up 11 goals with a school-record 23 assists.
Friday Harbor is coming off a 5-0 loss to Mount Vernon Christian in their district title match. In fact, three of the Wolverines’ losses have come to the Hurricanes, who are the No. 4 seed at state.
The winner of Wednesday’s match will face Mount Vernon Christian (14-1-1) in the state quarterfinals on Nov. 13.
2B: No. 6 Onalaska (11-5) vs. No. 11 Reardan (9-7-1) — 6 p.m., Wednesday, at Tiger Stadium in Centralia
The skinny:
Onalaska punched its ticket to state after knocking off Ocosta, 4-1, in the district quarterfinals. Losses to Adna in the semifinals and Toledo in the third/fourth-place match didn’t hurt the Loggers’ overall resume for the seeding committee as they were given the No. 6 seed at state.
The Loggers, who have scored 49 total goals this year, are led offensively by junior forward Brooklyn Sandridge, who has 22 goals on the season. Senior Callie Lawrence was recently named South Division MVP.
Defensively, they’ve allowed just 14 goals all season and are buoyed by the county’s top keeper in senior Alex Cleveland-Barrera.
Reardan is in just its second year of having a girls soccer team and squeaked into the league playoffs with a No. 4 seed. Reardan lost to St. George in the District 7 title match then defeated Brewster, 2-1, in the crossover playoffs Saturday to earn a state bid.
Reardan is extremely young, and its best player, Noelle Raczykowski, is just a freshman. The team is an interesting mix of girls who have played club soccer all their life and others who are playing soccer for the first time.
In goal, Reardan alternates between Jaylee Abrahamson and Jazmine Handley. Abrahamson (sophomore) is expected to get the start, as she's had two excellent performances in PKs and made two key saves against Brewster.
2B: No. 8 Adna (9-4) vs. No. 9 Cle Elum-Roslyn (12-6) — at 6 p.m., Wednesday, at Tumwater High School.
The skinny:
Adna was forced into COVID protocol near the end of the regular season and returned just in time for the district playoffs. In their first game back, the Pirates blew out Stevenson, 7-0, in their district opener, then defeated Onalaska in PKs in the semifinals, before falling to Kalama in the district title match.
The Pirates are led by a huge group of 13 seniors, many of whom have played together since youth soccer. Adna has scored 55 goals and allowed just 13 all year, including only one in division play.
The Pirates are led by North Division MVP Presley Smith, North Division Defensive MVP Madi Stark and five other first-team all leaguers in Kaylin Todd (F), Macy Kalnoski (GK), Summer White (F), Faith Wellander (MF) and Karlee Von Moos (D).
They’ll face a Cle Elum-Roslyn squad that defeated Warden in double overtime during the district semifinals to qualify for state. The Warriors then fell, 2-1, to the state’s No. 3 seed, Highland, in the district title match.
The Warriors have won six of their last nine and qualified for the state tournament in 2017, 2018 and 2019, all when the program competed in Class 1A before dropping down to 2B.
1A: No. 15 Tenino (14-5) vs. No. 2 South Whidbey (15-3-1) — 6 p.m., Wednesday, at Oak Harbor High School
The skinny
Tenino had the toughest path to state of any team in the 1A District 4 tournament. The Beavers began with a win over King’s Way Christian, then knew they had to beat at least one of the only two teams it had lost to this season: Montesano or Elma. Tenino fell to Monte for the third time this season in the semifinals, then defeated Elma, a team it had lost two in both its previous meetings, to clinch a state berth.
The Beavers then received the toughest state seeding of any team in any sport this year: the No. 15 seed and a matchup with No. 2 South Whidbey. The Beavers have more wins than seven teams that are seeded higher than them, including a Bush team (No. 12) that finished fifth in its conference and has just seven wins — half as many as the Beavers.
Tenino is led by senior Megan Letts, who was recently named the 1A Evergreen League's Offensive MVP. Midfielder Alivia Hunter and defender Andee Schaffran are both first-team all-league selections.
Now they’ll face a South Whidbey team that’s in the midst of a 12-match win streak. The Emerald Sound Conference’s Chinook League champions defeated Seattle Academy, 2-1 for the district championship.
2A: No. 9 Tumwater (16-2) vs. No. 8 Selah (13-5) — 6 p.m., Wednesday, at Selah High School
The skinny:
Tumwatr ripped off a 14-1 overall record in the regular season, including a perfect 11-0 record in league play, to capture the 2A Evergreen Conference title.
The Thunderbird then opened the district playoffs with a 2-0 win over R.A. Long before falling to Hockinson, 2-1, in the semifinals and rebounding with a 2-0 victory over Washougal in a winner-to-state match.
Selah, the Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) champion, has won four in a row and defeated No. 11 seed and conference rival Ellensburg in the CWAC championship to secure its state berth last week.
