The Chronicle’s 2021 All-Area Girls Soccer Team

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Having Brieanna Dell on your soccer team is like having a cheat code, as Tenino coach Kevin Schultz explains it.

Dell, a senior forward for the Beavers, established herself as one of the most prolific scorers in the state the past four years, culminating in a school-record 106 career goals. She broke Tenino’s single-season school record of 25 goals as a sophomore then shattered her own record the following year by blasting 42 shots into the back of the net as a junior in 2019.

“When we’re desperate, when we really need a goal, when we’re struggling a little bit, we can just play the ball up to Brie and she can make something happen for us,” Schultz said. “It makes us dangerous and also opens up space for her teammates.”

She led Tenino to the 1A Evergreen title that year, then the team’s first district title and first state victory in program history. She was one of just nine Washington players to be named to the girls soccer watchlist for the 2021 High School All-American Game.

She’s a two-time all-state selection — and she would likely be a three-time selection if all-state teams were released this year — the 1A EvCo overall MVP in 2019, the 1A EvCo co-MVP in 2019, The Chronicle’s All-Area co-MVP three consecutive year and finally is our All-Area overall MVP in 2021. She finished the shortened 2021 season with an area-leading 19 goals to go with four assists.

Not only is she one of the top soccer players in the state, she’s an equally valuable teammate, Schultz said. Knowing it was her senior year, she latched on to some of the underclassmen and helped coach them. One of the other forwards on the team came to Schultz at practice one day and asked if she could go talk to Dell during scrimmages to learn some pointers.

“She really cares about making sure after she leaves that that legacy continues of being successful,” Schultz said. “Even right now, she’s actually helping out with our middle school girls who are playing right now. It’s really cool to see that. She wants to pass that love of the game on to the younger players.

 

Tenino

The Beavers were far from just the Brieanna Dell Show. Tenino, which was co-league champs and advanced to the district title match for the second-straight season, finished 9-1 overall and 7-1 in league play and featured one of the deepest teams in the county. Junior midfielder Megan Letts was a first-team all-league midfielder after scoring a team-second-best seven goals while dishing out a team-high six assists. On the defensive side, junior Alivia Hunter, the team’s top defender, was a first-team all-league selection and even scored two goals.

 

Adna

Adna cruised through the regular season, easily capturing the 2B Central League’s North Division with an unblemished 7-0 league record. The Pirates beat Stevenson in the district quarterfinals before falling 2-1 to eventual-district-champion Kalama in the semifinal round, ending an eight-game win streak and their season.

The Pirates’ success was part high-scoring offense, with a league-leading 50 goals, including three 10-0 shutout wins, and part smothering defense, allowing just two goals all season.

The three main pieces in Adna’s offensive machine were junior forward Kaylin Todd, who scored a team-high nine goals and added two assists; junior forward Joey Swenson, who scored eight goals and tallied eight assists; and senior Keaton Dowell, who not only was a ferocious defender but also scored five goals and led the team with nine assists.

 



Onalaska

The Loggers were tied with Tenino as the most successful team in the county this season, earning the C2BL’s South Division title and advancing to the district championship

The Loggers ended with a 9-3 overall record, which included actually two wins over district champion Kalama, who they fell to in the title game.

A big part of that success was due to a trio of standouts, which includes the top goalkeeper in the league, junior Alex Cleveland-Barrera, who recorded 87 saves. As effective as Cleveland-Barrera was in stopping goals, Brooklyn Sandridge was in scoring them, finishing with 13 goals, good for second-best in the county, to go with four assists. Junior Cierra Russ was not far behind, finding the back of the net 10 times and adding a team-high seven assists.

 

Toledo

Though Toledo’s season ended much sooner than the Indians anticipated, it was far from a failure. The Indians (5-3), who played their first game after having just five practices, fell to North Division runner-up Ocosta in the district quarterfinals, but not before defeating South Division champion and district runner-up Onalaska twice in the regular season.

The reason for that success was due in large part to junior forward Marina Smith, who was third in the county with 11 goals, including one penalty-kick win, one shootout PK win and three assists. The person who helped create those goal-scoring opportunities for her was junior forward Rose Dillon, who scored five goals and dished out a team-high six assists.

 

Napavine

The Tigers knew coming into the season they were going to have their hands full in the loaded C2BL. Not only were they young but they were also inexperienced. Still, the Tigers were able to secure two victories, both over South Division foe Forks, and earn a spot in the district playoffs. The undisputed leader was junior forward Natalya Marcial, who scored six of the Tigers’ seven goals and collected one assist.

“Key player for us on a young, rebuilding team,” Napavine assistant coach Chris Tarabochia said. “Her approach, determination and leadership was the centerpiece to our growth and success that we had this season.”

 

W.F. West

W.F. West’s  season ended sooner than anticipated, falling to Black Hills in the district tournament. The Bearcats went 7-3 overall and won were co-2A Evergreen Conference champions, which included a four-game win streak at one point and six shutouts.

Sophomore forward Cameron Sheets was the Bearcats’ main offensive threat, scoring eight goals and collecting two assists. Defensively, W.F. West was anchored by two college-bound defenders, senior Cassy Schilter, who’s heading to play at Rocky Mountain College this fall, and senior Kelly Robertson, who will be playing for Centralia College.