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Centralia senior Zaid Tekle scored on a corner kick in the seventh minute and the Tigers played solid defense to hold off Rochester, 1-0, and earn their first win of the season Friday at home.
“We had a very outstanding defensive performance,” Centralia coach Henry Gallanger said. “Everyone contributed in a meaningful, bust-your-(butt) fashion. I could name my entire roster.”
Gallanger praised Tekle for stepping up and performing the way he knows the senior midfielder is capable of playing.
It was a huge win for the Tigers, who snapped a seven-game losing streak with the victory. It wasn’t easy, as Rochester came out swinging in the second half to play the Tigers to a scoreless stalemate for the final 40 minutes.
But Centralia was able to play excellent defense and keep the Warriors out of the net the rest of the way.
“This is what I’ve been asking them to do: play hard and take care of business,” Gallanger said. “It was a perfect demonstration tonight of what they’re capable of.”
Centralia improves to 1-7 and travels to Aberdeen on Thursday. Rochester falls to 3-4-2 and hosts Black Hills on Tuesday. The 2A District 4 Tournament begins next Saturday.
Chris Ramez scored a hat trick and Tenino boys soccer extended its win streak to three matches to end the regular season after defeating Montesano, 4-2, on the road Friday.
Ramez opened the scoring with a free-kick goal in the 16th minute. Later in the 47th minute, Ramez launched a free kick 60 yards and punched it in over the Bulldog keeper’s hands for his second goal of the night.
“I don’t think their keeper quite expected it,” Tenino coach Kevin Schultz said.
Ramez notched his hat trick in the 60th minute on a loose ball he sent from 35-40 yards out on an angle that found the top corner of the net.
Salvador Ontiveros closed out the Beavers scoring in the 71st minute.
“Having a three-game win streak going into districts is good,” Schultz said. “Not our best performance. It was a back-and-forth game. Kind of the difference in the game was goalkeeping.”
Tenino keeper Alex Reichelderfer recorded six saves on the day, including two huge ones, Schultz said.
The Beavers improve to 6-4 overall and take the No. 3 seed into districts where they face La Center at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
