The Chronicle's 2024 All-Area Soccer Team

MVP Hannah Fay led Napavine to district title, state quarterfinals

Posted 12/25/24

By The Chronicle staff

Make no mistake, the 2023 Napavine soccer season was successful. The Tigers won 11 games, and they finished one win shy of a state tournament appearance.

When former …

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The Chronicle's 2024 All-Area Soccer Team

MVP Hannah Fay led Napavine to district title, state quarterfinals

Posted

By The Chronicle staff

Make no mistake, the 2023 Napavine soccer season was successful. The Tigers won 11 games, and they finished one win shy of a state tournament appearance.

When former Kalama coach John Bates came to town to take over the Napavine program, the expectations rose. Bates won a state championship at Kalama, and his teams were annual title contenders.

The 2024 Tigers rose to the occasion, and All-Area MVP Hannah Fay was a big reason why.

Fay was named the C2BL MVP, scoring 12 goals and adding six assists while leading the Tigers to its first district championship in school history. That earned them a spot in the state tournament for the first time since 2012 (there were no district tournaments from 2009-2012, when Napavine made four straight state title games).

In the Tigers’ district semifinal win over Adna, Fay scored the first Napavine attempt from the spot in penalties.

In their 2-1 first-round state tournament win, Fay scored both Napavine goals in the final 10 minutes. She first gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead, but when Okanogan tied the game moments later, she scored a second to secure the win.

“It meant a lot,” Fay said. “The past couple years we should have gone a lot farther than we did. As a team, we worked a lot harder to get there this year.”

“We do practice a lot of that,” she added about the pair of goals in the state win. “It was cool to have that happen in a game.”

Fay credited the preparation to Bates, who she said had the girls more prepared for everything that came their way this season.

She also said it was fun to have a coach who made sure to make connections with his players, something that carries over to the rest of the team.

“We’ve made a lot better connections this year,” Fay said. “And I think it worked a lot better.”

The Tigers’ season came to an end in the quarterfinal round, but they finished as just one of six 2B teams in the state to win 16 or more games, and their three losses were the second-fewest in the state. The only team that did better was Freeman, which went unbeaten on its way to a state championship.

Not only will Fay be back next fall, but the Tigers’ five other first-team all-leaguers will be back as well.

“I’m really excited,” Fay said. “I’m just really proud of how our team did as a whole …  I think we’ll do really good next year.”

The Chronicle’s 2024 All-Area Girls Soccer Team

FORWARDS

Kaiyah Sandridge, Onalaska

Sandridge scored 28 goals and added seven assists, earning the C2BL Offensive MVP award and helping the Loggers reach their sixth consecutive state tournament.

 

Lydia Tobin, Adna

Tobin led an Adna offense that scored four or more goals in nine different games this season, scoring 23 goals and tallying 12 assists to earn first-team all-league honors.

Ashlen Gruginski, W.F. West

Gruginski scored 10 goals and dished out 10 assists to land a spot on the All-EvCo First Team and lead the Bearcats to within a game of the state tournament.

 

Peyton Holter, Toledo

Holter helped the Riverhawks reach the district title game and their first state tournament in three seasons, scoring 12 goals and adding nine assists to earn a spot on the All-C2BL Team.

 

Emalyn Shaffer, Tumwater

The EvCo Player of the Year scored 25 goals and added four assists to help Tumwater get within one game of a state tournament appearance.

 

Ella Jarmin, Black Hills

Jarmin led the Wolves offensively, scoring 18 goals and 10 assists en route to earning a spot on the first-team all-league team.

 



MIDFIELDER

Olivia Gruginski, Centralia

As Centralia’s go-to playmaker, Gruginski scored 15 goals and dealt out five assists to help the Tigers reach a district pigtail game.

 

Hayden Kaut, Napavine

Kaut scored 19 goals to help lead the Tigers to a C2BL title, their first district title, and their first state tournament since 2012.

 

Kayla Pope, Tumwater

The EvCo Offensive Player of the Year scored 25 goals and added seven assists to headline an offense that averaged more than six goals per game.

 

Paisley Garcia, Tenino

The Doane University commit served as Tenino’s main defensive mid, controlling the field well enough to be named to the 1A Evergreen First-Team.

 

Emily Mallonee, W.F. West

Mallonee scored eight goals and added three assists while commanding the midfield for the Bearcats, earning a first-team all-league spot in the process.

 

DEFENDERS

Jaelyn Auman, Onalaska

Auman was not only named one of the C2BL’s co-defensive MVPs, but she also added seven goals on the offensive end to help Onalaska return to the state tournament.

 

Elizabeth Mittge, W.F. West

Mittge headlined a W.F. West backline that shut out nine opponents, and she landed a spot on the All-EvCo First Team.

 

Bella Gomez, Centralia

Gomez was Centralia’s first-team all-league defender, leading a Tiger defense that allowed one or fewer goals in 10 games this season.

Kailyn Black, Rochester

Rochester’s lone first-team all-league honoree, Black led a Rochester backline that posted five shutouts this season.

 

GOALIES

Charlee Nelson, W.F. West

The EvCo Goalkeeper of the Year was in net for nine shutouts, allowing just one goal per game and logging 120 saves over the course of the season.

 

Taylen Evander, Napavine

The C2BL’s first-team keeper, Evander was in net for 11 shutouts, saved 95 shots, and allowed just .752 goals per game.