TENINO — Since its inception in 2012, one of the most consistent programs in all of Class 1B/2B girls soccer has been the team that resides in Adna.
From 2013-24, the constant was seeing the Pirates be in the state tournament and compete for state titles, having finished second in the ‘21 campaign as the best finish. At some point, all streaks come to a close.
Which is what happened last fall when they lost 2-0 in the third place winner-to-state game.
“We lost a lot and we just couldn’t get there,” Adna head coach Patrick Richardson said of the ‘25 season.
Time to start a new streak.
Freshman forward Samantha Clark netted the equalizer in regulation and slotted in the match-winning penalty kick in a shootout to give the fifth-seeded Pirates a 2-1 (3-2 PKs) triumph over arch rival Napavine on Saturday morning on The Blacktop in Tenino.
As soon as the final PK attempt from Napavine sailed over the bar, first team all-league keeper Lillian Montat lifted her arms up and then was mobbed by her teammates near midfield.
“It was hard last year,” Montat said. “We worked our asses off this game. I’m really proud of the whole team.”
It’s been a tale of two halves this fall for Adna (12-8). It didn’t have star midfielder Madi Otten early in the non-league portion of the schedule, seeing her still recover from a knee injury suffered during the basketball season.
Once the first team all-league pick suited up, it changed the outlook for the Pirates. There were better combo passes, they kept their shape and things flowed offensively. Still, they didn’t play flawlessly.
Two losses to Toledo were by a combined score of 15-2. They lost one-goal contests to Onalaska and Ocosta, the latter ended up being the difference in them going on the road in the district quarterfinals.
Even so, Richardson felt his group was peaking at the right time.
“It is all about being better than the day before,” he said. “Just continue to beat yesterday, that’s what I’ve been preaching the last half of the season. It is starting to click.”
Adna, which beat Napavine 1-0 over a week ago, had to mount a comeback. Clark’s goal in the 57th minute was set up on an Otten free kick and Clark placed the shot into the bottom right corner to square the match.
The Tigers (9-10-1) had a couple breakaways from eighth grader Ameliya Stratton in the final 20 minutes, but the Pirates back line kept up with her speed. Neither side had a threatening chance in the two extra time periods.
“We wanted to get our line up and put them under as much pressure as possible,” Napavine first-year head coach Caleb Gallanger said. “We were so close.”
Otten and Alyson Terry made their PKs for Adna. After the first two missed, Briley Fay and Dakota Lyons made it 2-2 going into the fifth round. Clark’s PK hit the hands of Napavine keeper Myah Kadoun and went in.
The chance for the Tigers to keep the shootout going was too high and tears started to flow. They opened the scoring with a Briley Fay goal from beyond the 18-yard box in the 27th minute, but now say goodbye to four seniors in Nicholle Valentine, Yuvia Contreras, Emily Mendoza and Alexis Schutz.
“We played our hearts out and we brought the intensity,” Gallanger said. “Some of them were nervous and some of them were so nervous they changed their decision. You want to make your decision and stick with it.”
Now Adna will get the chance to win a state tournament game for the first time since the 2021 semifinal. Richardson believes they can be a low double digit seed of the final 16 teams in the combined classification.
“We’re gonna leave it all out on the field and hopefully move on,” Montant said.
