TUMWATER — Soccer can be unforgiving.
For 80 minutes on Friday night, possession and chances were dominated by the Tumwater High School boys soccer team. In both halves, if the ball was over on Aberdeen’s side of midfield, it was sent back quickly.
And yet, the T-Birds’ senior night was spoiled.
Aberdeen’s Christhian Lopez unleashed a shot from 20-plus yards that sailed over the out-reached hand of goalie Davyn McGilvrey and into the bottom right corner for the match and the regular season Evergreen Conference championship winner in its 1-0 triumph at Tumwater District Stadium.
The top-two teams in the league now are tied at 22 points, but with the season series win, the Bobcats own the tiebreaker to be the EvCo’s No. 1 seed in the Class 2A District 4 tournament next week.
“You have to finish your chances, especially in games like this that are tight,” Tumwater head coach John Hayes said. “We’re just not staying composed.”
As soon as the final whistle blew, Aberdeen mobbed its bench. Tumwater (9-6, 7-2 EvCo) walked slowly back to its side and emotions ran high. Captain Gavin Cuoio was outspoken on his frustrations.
Bottom line, in Hayes’ eyes, the magnitude of the match made for a rising temperature.
“They’ll take a moment and calm down, reflect and go at it on Monday,” he said.
The theme of the season for Tumwater – and much of the league – has been an inability to finish scoring opportunities. That continued on Friday.
It recorded eight shots in the opening 40 minutes and eight more in the second 40, each half saw five of them be on target. Six corner kicks – four in the second half – led to additional chances.
None found the back of the net.
“We were forcing it a little too much,” Hayes said. “Part of the game with young men and nerves. Unfortunately, we’re on the losing end tonight.”
The Thunderbirds best chance came in stoppage time before the end of regulation. Sophomore Tony Hernandez, who played more on the outside in the attacking-third, got a pass from inside the penalty box and his shot went wide on the near post.
He smacked his hand on the turf and put his jersey over his face afterwards.
“We preach low and far post on every shot,” Hayes said.
Within the next minute after the kick in the first five-minute extra time period, Alcala’s goal was just the sixth shot of the match for the Bobcats and the third on target.
“That is a tough one to swallow, I don’t care what level, that just stings,” Hayes stated.
It marked the fourth straight meeting between the two programs that featured a tie after regulation, but the first in two years where the end didn’t take place in a shootout. Tumwater swept the two matches last spring and Aberdeen returned the favor in 2025.
Now, the T-Birds close the regular season on the road against W.F. West on Tuesday where a victory will lock them into the No. 2 seed for districts. With a senior-heavy bunch, Hayes believes they’ll respond in a positive way with all of their goals still in front of them.
“W.F. West is always a game where both sides get up for,” Hayes said. “They know what they need to do and they’re gonna go do it. Obviously, you wanna be a higher seed, but I think we’re a really good team and we can go pretty far.”
