ROCHESTER — The Scatter Creek Showdown is and has been a yearly occurrence in most sports between the Rochester and Tenino High School athletic programs.
Boys soccer is a different story.
With a maximum of 16 matches permitted per the WIAA, it didn’t lead to a lot of non-league flexibility. Throughout the last classification cycle, Rochester dealt with playing the five other Evergreen Conference foes and Tenino was in a much larger Evergreen League.
And when the two rivals were scheduled to play in the spring of 2020, the pandemic wiped that away one day before kickoff.
“They’re more confident, they’re more physical,” Warriors head coach Matt Ashton said of his group. “Put those together, something positive is going to come out.”
That happened on Thursday night.
Ignited by five goals in the opening half – including two within the first 10 minutes of the match – Rochester came away with the first SCS triumph over Tenino in six years, 7-0 on its home field in an Evergreen tilt.
The seven goals is the third-most this season by the Warriors, trailing a 13-goal output versus Chief Leschi and a 12-0 clean sheet over Ilwaco prior to spring break.
They sit one win away from tying last year’s total and, with Elma’s match against Forks not reporting a final score by press time, are a half-game alone in third place in the standings.
From one win in 2023, it is the trajectory Ashton and midfielder Aiden Villanueva were hopeful in Year 3 of this rebuild.
“Definitely going smoother,” Villanueva stated.
Seven different players scored a goal for Rochester (5-3, 5-2 Evergreen) and the scoreboard lit up nearly off the opening kick.
Villanueva was on the receiving end of a cross from Angel Nolasco for the first goal two minutes into the match. Six minutes later, the sophomore returned the favor on a nifty ball after a corner kick to the feet of Brendan Pontes.
Three of the five first half tallies were assisted with passes through the air.
“We like to score early, get momentum,” Villanueva said. “Practices help us (a lot).”
Nansok Johnson (20th minute), Eduardo Herrera (38’) and Brandon Reyes-Ibarra (‘40) scored in the first 40 minutes. Reyes-Ibarra launched a shot well beyond the 18-yard box and comfortably fit in the bottom right corner.
“It was a better game for us, nice to have a clean sheet,” Ashton said.
It all starts through Villanueva, who had an eventful night.
First, his year on the official roster that was announced during intros lists him as a junior when in reality he’s a sophomore. Then his on-field performance led to a prom-posal following the final whistle.
Villanueva’s teammates and the coaches have seen enough to trust him to orchestrate the attack in the final third of the field.
“He’s very good on the ball, able to keep it close to him and still maneuver around people,” Ashton said. “A lot of it, for him, he’s okay not scoring.”
Ivoc Castillo and Mauricio Bahena scored in the 52nd and 79th minute, respectively to cap the offensive showcase.
Tenino (2-7, 2-6) were without a couple key pieces and only had three subs to use throughout the 80 minutes. After a 1-2 stretch that included a pair of one-goal losses to traditional league powers Elma and Montesano, the Beavers were taken out of the match from the start.
Still, head coach Trevor Fetbrandt found a couple positives to take into Tuesday’s match versus Chief Leschi.
“We set the objective of trying to connect, find little combinations so we can focus on smaller wins,” Fetbrandt said. “We knew they were an incredibly talented group. From a depth perspective, one of if not the deepest team.”
Several eighth graders have earned significant varsity minutes and the primary objective for Tenino is adjusting and fixing the little things.
Fetbrandt is hopeful those changes can lead to wins, even against the top talent in the league.
“We try to toughen them up in practice and not letting things like this waver our confidence going forward,” he said.
Rochester gets its second meeting with Elma on Tuesday to kickoff the second half of the slate. The Warriors are vying for a district tournament bid, a feat the program hasn’t accomplished in at least six seasons.
They believe this group can end the drought.
“Still got a lot of work to do to get prepared for the postseason,” Villanueva said.
