Loggers Roll to District Title Match, Pirates Eliminated

HOPES OF REPEAT: Onalaska Looks for its Second-Straight District Title After 2-1 Win Over Ocosta in Semifinals

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It must be déjà vu all over again for Onalaska. Not only are the Loggers back in the 2B District 1V title game after defeating Ocosta 2-1 in the semifinals at home Tuesday, but they’re facing a Kalama team they just beat 1-0 for the Central 2B North Division title just six days ago.

The Loggers, fueled by goals from Cierra Russ in the first half and Brooklyn Sandridge in the second half (both assisted by Callie Lawrence), are now in the district title game for the second-straight year. Keeper Alex Cleveland-Barrera was 90% on the night in saves.

“We did a good job moving the ball,” Onalaska coach Chris Van Clifford said. “Great passing. We worked on passing quite a bit.”

Onalaska is the defending district champions, having won it last year over Toledo, and will look to make it back-to-back against a Kalama team they’ve already beaten twice this season by razor-thin margins. The Loggers won both matches on penalty kicks.

“We’ll go at it one more time,” Van Clifford said. “They’re tough. It’ll be a challenging game. They pass really well and they have sticky feet. The only way to get the ball from them is to steal a pass.”

Onalaska (8-1) will now travel to Kalama (7-2) for the title game, a site pre-determined, at 6 p.m., Thursday, for the championship.

“That was our goal, to get back to the title game,” Van Clifford said.

Pirates Eliminated by Kalama



Adna’s first loss of the season came at the most unfortunate time, as the Pirates fell 2-1 to Kalama in the district semifinals Tuesday at home.

Summer White’s goals off an assist from Macy Kalnoski with 10 minutes left in regulation brought the Pirates within one, but Adna couldn’t muster another goal to send it into overtime.

“I don’t know if we played our best,” Adna coach Horst Malunat said. “They had a good forward and team speed, and they capitalized on a couple of our mistakes. They got the better of us tonight… we did much better the second half.”

The Chinooks (7-2) took the lead after senior forward Melanie Martinez’ breakaway goal in the 37th minute gave Kalama a 1-0 advantage at the half. The Chinooks went up 2-0 in the 49th minute after Josie Brandenburg ripped off a 30-yard long-range shot that found the back of the net. It was the first time all season the Pirates had trailed 2-0 in a match.

“I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. You’ve got to be kidding me,’” Malunat said.

The Pirates end their season with a 9-1 record, with 50 goals while only allowing three. As most of the team heads to softball and other Season 2 sports, Malunat said he hopes they remember this season as a whole, rather than the one blemish at the end.

“Nine and one at the end of any season is not bad,” Malunat said. “It’s just so hard to lose the last game and end on a down note. I’m really proud of our team. We never stopped fighting. I can’t be disappointed by any means. The girls need to look at the journey and not the final destination.”