The Centralia girls soccer team saw its postseason hopes officially come to an end Thursday, as the Tigers dropped a 2-0 result to Aberdeen out in Grays Harbor County.
“It was a hard-fought game in the second half,” first-year coach Noel Vazquez said. “We’ve struggled all season long to start strong in the first half, and it’s cost us at times. And we’ve struggled digging ourselves out of a hole.”
Thursday, the Tigers had to deal with both struggles. Like in Tuesday’s Chronicle Cup loss to W.F. West, Centralia didn’t concede right away, but gave up the bulk of possession early, and ultimately the Bobcats’ pressure paid off midway through the half.
Playing from behind, Centralia managed to keep the deficit at one goal going into halftime, but struggled to threaten to draw things level.
Things got better in the second half, with the Tigers beating the keeper on multiple occasions, only to see their efforts denied by the crossbar.
Lily Babka finished with nine saves on 10 shots on target in 60 minutes for Centralia, before getting a chance to play the field with Braylee Blankenship coming in to play keeper the final 20.
The Bobcats doubled their lead late in the second half.
Centralia will wrap up its season next Tuesday at home against Black Hills.
