The Centralia girls soccer team proved that it can indeed do it on a cold, rainy night in Rochester, downing the Warriors 3-1 in a 2A EvCo showdown Tuesday.
“The score doesn’t really reflect the battle we had out here in the rain,” Centralia coach Luis Magana Reyna said. “A lot of midfield play.”
The Tigers (6-4, 4-3 2A EvCo) took a 1-0 lead into halftime thanks to a goal by Anahi Corona off an assist from Olivia Gruginski, but the Warriors (4-6, 2-5 2A EvCo) tied it up early in the second half.
Things stood at 1-1 until the dying moments, when Corona set up Eva Reinitz, who beat the keeper to give the Tigers a late lead. Right after, Gruginski doubled the advantage for good measure, from a Jaslin Corona assist.
Braylee Blankenship made four saves for Centralia. Ahead of her, Makenna Horst and Megan Tokstad teamed up to anchor the back line in a new combination that served promising early returns.
“We didn’t get the clean sheet, but we played pretty well,” Magana Reyna said.
Centralia will try to keep things rolling Thursday at home against Shelton. Rochester will get some non-league action Thursday against Eatonville.
