TUMWATER — Flash back to Nov. 13, 2024.
Napavine and Okanogan met at Tiger Stadium in Centralia in a 1B/2B State Round of 16 matchup, and a late goal helped send the Tigers through to the state quarterfinals.
A few things played out differently over the first 70 minutes in the rematch on Wednesday in Tumwater in this year’s Round of 16 matchup, but the game’s final moments played out exactly the same way.
Jenna Gallagher came through with the winning goal to send Napavine back to the quarterfinals with a 2-1 win over Okanogan.
It came just two minutes after the Bulldogs had tied the game at one, similar to how Hannah Fay’s winner came just five minutes after Okanogan’s tying goal in last year’s matchup.
“It’s kind of identical,” Napavine coach John Bates said. “I’m just happy for them.”
Gallagher’s winner came moments after a corner kick, and she found the ball at her feet in the box with just enough space to slide a shot past a defender and a diving keeper.
“I believe it was Briley (Fay) who brought it down, then passed it back,” Gallagher said. “And I kicked it under the goalie.”
Okanogan’s tying goal gave the Tigers a late jolt that they desperately needed, as the Bulldogs had been generating multiple chances throughout the game.
“I think after we gave it up, it definitely sparked something for us,” Gallagher said. “We definitely did bring it after that. I think we should have been playing like that.”
The main difference between this year’s victory and last year’s was when the first goal occurred.
In 2024, the Tigers had several chances throughout the game’s first 70 minutes, but they didn’t get on the board until the 71st.
This year, Gallagher and Hayden Kaut wasted almost no time.
In just the fifth minute of the game, Gallagher slid a pass to Kaut, who made a defender miss in the middle of the box and went over the keeper and bar down to give Napavine an early 1-0 lead.
That lead held until the 77th, but Gallagher made sure the game wasn’t tied for long.
“We got it done,” Bates said. “I’m just happy for the kids that we pulled it through.”
The No. 7 Tigers (13-4-2) will now prepare for a trip east to play No. 2 Cle Elum-Roslyn in the quarterfinals.
The Warriors won the Eastern Washington Athletic Conference Tournament and the District 5 Tournament en route to earning the No. 2 seed, and they will enter the game at 15-4-1 overall.
All four of those losses came to teams from higher classifications, and they have won nine in a row since their last loss, including a 6-0 win over La Conner in their Round of 16 matchup.
If Napavine is able to pull off the upset, they would head to the semifinals for the first time since 2012, which was the last of four straight second place finishes.
“We just gotta pick it up,” Bates said. “The next game is gonna be tough.”
