11/2/23
(Kalama, WA) Two of the three spots for District 4 in the B state girls soccer tournament were up for grabs on Thursday night at Chinook Stadium in Kalama. The two matches were very different but neither needed to go beyond the 80 minutes of regulation. A defensive battle in the opening match was decided on an Onalaska corner that lifted them past the Napavine Tigers 1-0. In the second semifinal, Bridgette Hollifield put on a show for the Kalama faithful as she lifted the Chinooks to a 5-0 win over Adna to set up an Onalaska-Kalama district championship.
Onalaska 1, Napavine 0
In most defensive battles in soccer, the ball stays in the neutral third of the field for a majority of the match. That was not the case when the Onalaska Loggers and Napavine Tigers battled it out on Thursday night. Both offenses created opportunity after opportunity but the opposing defenses were ready for the challenge.
On offense for the Napavine Tigers, the speed of Hannah Fay was causing some problems for the Logger defense. The sophomore paired well with sophomore striker Hayden Kaut to put consistent pressure on the backline of Onalaska. Jenna Gallagher subbed in during the first half and played so well that she remained in for the rest of the game for Napavine. Kate Zandell and Kiley Talley were ready for the Tigers and led a defensive stand for Ony. Jaelyn Auman and Sylvie Little also joined the backline to help keeper Hailee Brown keep a clean sheet.
On the other end of the field, Onalaska’s Kaiyah Sandridge continued to gain confidence with each game as she paced the Onalaska attack. Wings Yuliana Escalera and Jules Auman assisted with the charge while Jaycee Talley and Randi Haight paced the midfield for the Loggers. The Napavine defense was on point as well, led by Maya Kunkel. The sophomore defensive captain took control for the Tigers and locked down the Logger attack with Emma Stewart doing a great job playing help side defense as well. The speed of Clara Fay on the backline helped Napavine’s counter attacks as Taylen Evander once again came up with multiple strong saves.
It wasn’t until the 70th minute that we would see a goal. Onalaska looked much better in the second half and controlled the time of possession and late in the half earned a corner kick. Jaycee Talley would take the corner and it was placed perfectly inside the 18-yard box. Jules Auman was placed perfectly and headed it into the back of the net for what turned out to be the game winning goal. Napavine got a couple of opportunities late, but the Logger defense was as stout as always and shutdown those last few looks for the Tigers. The final whistle sounded and the Onalaska Loggers had defeated the Napavine Tigers 1-0 to advance to the district championship game and secure their spot in the 12-team bracket for the state tournament.
The Thorbeckes MVP of the game was Jaycee Talley for Onalaska. Talley was all over the field and became a centerpiece for the Loggers on both defense and offense. Despite dealing with some injuries, Talley gutted through the pain to play the entire match and then helped Onalaska get the win late. Talley took the corner kick that went off the head of Jules Auman and into the back of the net for the game-winner. A gutsy and determined performance for Jaycee Talley made it a pretty easy call to name her the MVP of the first semifinal.
To watch the entire replay of the match on-demand, check out the link below.
Highlights
Postgame Show
Evander Early Save
Onalaska Game-Winner
Logger Defense Denies Napavine Final Attempt
Kalama 5, Adna 0
In the night cap of the doubleheader, Kalama’s looked to continue their streak of shutout victories in a rematch of the 2021 state championship as they took on the Adna Pirates. Kalama’s defense entered Thursday without allowing a goal since September 14th and they kept that streak alive. The high-powered Kalama offense did their job as well after a slow start as they rolled to a 5-0 win.
Adna came out of the gates looking pretty strong on all levels. Keeper Jordanne Moon had a couple of massive saves early, including one on a header that looked destined for the back of the net. Alyson Terry, Gabby Solem, and Sophie Hagseth defended pretty well in the opening 25 minutes or so as well. Lydia Tobin led the Adna offense, but the swarming defense of Kalama was just too much to try to solve.
Kalama had a tough time getting going. A 10th minute PK by Bridgette Hollifield gave Kalama a 1-0 lead but then things seemed off for Kalama. Miscommunication on the attacks and touches just being a tad bit off had the Chinooks frustrated. Then everything clicked into place for the Chinooks and they began to roll. Absolutely perfect shots from Hollifield and Sienna DiCristina made it 3-0 at halftime. Then in the second half, Hollifield continued to just dominate. She added two more goals with the last one being one of the better goals you will see this year. The 5-0 lead allowed coach John Bates to drop C2BL MVP Josie Brandenburg back on defense where she joined an already dominant Aubrey Doerty to put the finishing touches on a 5-0 win for the Chinooks.
With such an impressive stretch of defense for the Kalama Chinooks, we had to name Aubrey Doerty as our Thorbeckes MVP of semifinal #2. With a nearly flawless performance defensively, Doerty has slid into her new defensive role seamlessly. Not only did Doerty do a great job on defense, but instead of just clearing the ball out, the junior consistently looked for opportunities to pass the ball out and get Kalama going on a counterattack. There were a few times where Doerty actually got involved in the offense and took some shots on goal as well. Sometimes the defense doesn’t get the recognition that they deserve, but Aubrey Doerty was too good to ignore on Thursday night.
You can watch this match on-demand as well through the link below.
Highlights
Postgame Show
Moon Denies Corner
Kalama Extends Lead to 3-0
Hollifield Highlight Goal
That sets up the matches for Saturday in Tenino that you can see right here on ESN. First, Adna will take on Napavine at 10am in the third-place game where the winner will advance to the state tournament while the loser will see their season come to an end. The first meeting between the Pirates and Tigers ended in a 1-1 draw to open up league play, but this time there must be a winner. Then at 12pm, it will be the district championship game as the Onalaska Loggers take on the Kalama Chinooks. This will be the 4th consecutive district championship appearance for the Chinooks with them winning each of the last three. Onalaska is back in the district title game for the first time since the Covid shortened season when they lost to Kalama in PKs. Both teams will be in the state tournament with the bracket being released on Sunday.
elisportsnetwork.com