Ridgefield proved the 2A Greater St. Helens League is the class of District 4 as the third-seeded Spudders delivered a 6-0 shutout to host and No. 2 seed W.F. West in the opening round of districts Saturday.
The Bearcats had no answer for the Spudders, both offensively and defensively, in a match that was mostly played on one side of the pitch.
“They (GSHL) are one of the most competitive, from top to bottom, leagues in the entire state,” W.F. West coach Allen Anderson said. “That’s great for our district. It makes it incredibly difficult. If you can get past these teams, you know you’re set up very, very well when you get to the state tournament.”
W.F. West is still in contention for a state playoff berth, but will need to win two-straight matches to claim the third and final spot in districts.
“Hats off to Ridgefield. They’re an amazing seed. It doesn’t matter much that they’re the third seed because all those teams, one through five, took turns beating each other. We just gotta take lessons from the mistakes we made today and move forward for Tuesday so we can prep ourselves for whoever we play.”
Anderson said they have a lot of little things to shore up before that happens, most importantly decision making. The Bearcats struggled with being slow at making decisions with the ball at their feet against Ridgefield.
“Against these opponents, we don’t have a lot of time because they put so much pressure on you so fast,” Anderson said. “We have to already have a plan in place with where we want to go with the ball.”
The Bearcats will next face the loser of Washougal and Columbia River in the loser’s bracket. If Columbia River loses, the Bearcats will play at the Rapids’ home field Tuesday. If Washougal loses, the Bearcats will host the Panthers Tuesday.
“I would love to be able to play at home,” Anderson said. “I know opponents really don’t like coming here, especially opponents who get to play on beautiful turf fields. If we have that advantage, I would definitely take it.”
