T-Birds blast Hawks in district quarterfinal

The Tumwater girls soccer team opened their district tournament run with a bang on Saturday, defeating Hockinson 4-1 at home to advance to a winner-to-state semifinal.

It’s a much more positive start to district play than last season, when Tumwater was upset at home by the same Hockinson team. Last fall, the T-Birds bounced back in their first consolation game, but lost their next game to fall short of the state tournament.

“This year, there was a mentality of some payback,” Tumwater coach Brett Bartlett said. “They really felt like they got short-changed last year, short-changed themselves. They want to get back there and prove it was a fluke.”

Tumwater put the pressure on early, generating multiple chances, but the breakthrough didn’t come until late in the first half, when Kayla Pope scored a pair before the break.

“The kids came out strong and created a lot of chances,” Bartlett said. “We had been knocking on the door the whole time.”

Pope got a hat trick with a third in the second half. Emalyn Shaffer and Sy’rai Culp also scored in the second half.

The T-Birds (13-2-2) will host Ridgefield, the reigning district and state champions, in a semifinal on Wednesday. The two teams met at Ridgefield earlier in October, a matchup that the Spudders won 2-0.

“We feel good about (the rematch),” Bartlett said. “It is a matter of us being healthy and connecting our passes.”

The winner will advance to the district title game and earn a state tournament berth, while the loser will play in a winner-to-state elimination game.