Beavers Start Slow in Loss to Bulldogs

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TENINO — In a rematch of the district championship game last year, and the second matchup the teams have played this season, Montesano got off to a hot start and ran away from Tenino, 3-0, on the black turf Thursday night.

The loss moves the Beavers to 2-3 in league play.

“Obviously we started too slow, we gave up a goal in the first two minutes on a really good set piece,” Beavers coach Kevin Schultz said. “One thing we talked about is that they do a really good job taking advantage of set piece opportunities and they showed that tonight.”

The Beavers were blitzed from the get-go, with the Bulldogs putting a free kick goal through the back of the net in the third minute from Paige Lisherness. Monte doubled its lead in the 11th minute, when Mikayla Stanfield got a ball past Tenino keeper Trinity Tafoya.

The nightmare half came to a close when right before the halftime whistle, Bethanie Henderson scored off a corner to give the visitors a 3-0 lead at the break.

That would prove to be enough for the Bulldogs, who didn’t allow a shot on target in the second half to take home the win. It’s Montesano’s 10th straight victory.

“Montesano is a really good team, you have to credit them,” Schultz said. “You have to relish those opportunities and now we have to relish the opportunity and bounce back and recover next week.”

The loss means the Beavers will have an uphill climb to qualify for the district tournament. They’ll have to win their next three games, including next week’s rematch against Elma on the road, to be in position to try for a district crown.

Before Tenino can even begin to think about another matchup against Montesano again for a district title, they’ll have their backs against the wall in several must-win games in the coming weeks.

“I’m a competitor, we have a lot of girls that love to compete,” Schultz said. “Yeah, our backs are against the wall but that's sometimes when you play your best. We need to respond with another winning streak.”