HS Soccer: Elma Stays Perfect in League Play With Win in Tenino

9/28/23

Elma 2, Tenino 0

(Tenino, WA) Tenino continued their gauntlet of a schedule to continue league play as the Beavers hosted the Elma Eagles on the blacktop on Thursday night. Tenino’s defense held up pretty well against a very good Elma attack led by Beta Valentine. However, the Eagles were able to wear down the Beavers back line while Elma’s defense was just dominant as the Eagles got the road win over the Beavers 2-0.

Elma doesn’t need very many opportunities to score because their execution is so good. Tenino learned that in the 12th minute when the Eagles earned a corner kick. Beta Valentine sent in a perfect ball into the middle of the 18-yard box and defender Eliza Sibbett lived every defenders dream as she headed the ball into the back of the net for a goal to give Elma a 1-0 lead.

The Eagles showed their passing skills as well later in the opening half. After intercepting a Tenino throw-in, Elma slowly made their way up the field into striking range. Valerie Echevera took the ball outside of the right post and drew the Tenino defense and goalie over. Then, Echevera cut back an absolutely perfect pass into the middle of the 18 where Beta Valentine was right there to just tap it in for a second goal for Elma. Their defense did the rest as the Eagles were able to keep a clean sheet to earn a 2-0 win over Tenino.

Our Thorbeckes MVP of the game went to Eliza Sibbett who did it all for Elma on Thursday night. The defender was the leader on defense for the Eagles and that group was able to pitch a shutout. Then, Sibbett added on a goal off of a beautiful corner kick to add some offense to her resume. The defender had a great day on defense and scored on offense which made this a no-doubter.

With the win, Elma moves to 8-1 and 2-0 in Evergreen 1A league play. The Eagles have set themselves up for a big showdown on Tuesday when they host the only other undefeated team in league play in the Montesano Bulldogs at 7pm. Meanwhile, Tenino drops to 5-4-1 and 0-2 in league play with their league losses coming to Elma and Montesano. The Beavers will look bounce back and earn their first win as they have a week to prepare for a trip to Hoquiam as they visit the Grizzlies on Thursday at 6pm.

You can catch an entire replay of this match on-demand in the link below. Remember, an NFHS subscription gets you ALL EVENTS on the NFHS Network live and on-demand for an entire month. It is NOT a pay per view system.