ONALASKA — There was one training session where the Onalaska High School girls soccer team focused on corner kicks. More importantly, who was going to take them during matches.
It was obvious from the get-go that freshman Payton Reaves would do the honors.
“She could loft it for perfect headers,” junior midfielder Randi Haight said.
Reaves was the engine of the second half outburst, sending two perfectly placed corner kicks to Haight and teammate Leighton Underhill to spur the Loggers to a 3-1 triumph over Adna in a C2BL contest on Wednesday night.
Since getting mopped up by Class 1A Tenino 5-0 a month ago, Onalaska has turned in six consecutive wins. Its defense has allowed just three goals in that span.
At 8-3-1 overall and 5-0 in league, it maintained pace with Napavine atop the table. Also at 5-0 in the C2BL, the Loggers and Tigers meet next Wednesday in Onalaska for a 6 p.m. kick.
“If we keep working, fix up the things we’re not doing so well and I think we can come out on top,” Haight said.
Reaves and Haight connected on the first corner kick in the 49th minute. The ball – sent in on the Loggers sideline – bent right towards Haight, who timed up the jump correctly and got the header right past the Pirates goalkeeper.
Then in the 57th minute, on the opposite corner, Reaves went far post and the ball bounced off the chest of Underhill for a key insurance goal.
Onalaska held off some late pushes by Adna (7-5-1, 3-1-1) to ignite a slight celebration.
“We want to get seeded higher so that way we don’t have to face Crosspoint to reach the final four,” Loggers head coach Christopher VanClifford said. “We (have) to take care of business in districts.”
The two programs that survived the Class 2B District 4 tournament to reach the state tourney last fall were in a back-and-forth first half tussle. Haight scored first for the Loggers on a 30-plus yard shot in the seventh minute.
It was a point of emphasis that Pirates head coach Patrick Richardson stated to his girls prior to first kick.
“She is a good long-range shooter and we left her too wide open,” he said. “Keeper was right there, jumped a little too early. Played it right, just didn’t take care of the middle of the field.”
Adna never actually scored a goal on the night.
Off a Lydia Tobin corner in the 24th minute, the ball deflected off the side of Onalaska’s Yuliana Escalera and past goalie Emily Hicks for the equalizer.
That tally turned the tide for the Pirates with a heavy dosage of possession and plenty of shots on frame. It continued in the early portion of the second half and the Loggers struggled to execute a clearance.
Hicks finished with 17 saves on the night.
“Definitely a good sign; would be nice to start out that way,” Richardson said. “We’ve had a lot of opportunities where we dribble the ball one too many dribbles, we get challenged. It is knowing those selfish and selfless moments.”
It was the ensuing counter-attack that Onalaska forced the corner kick and never looked back. It travels to Winlock on Monday.
“They stuck with it,” VanClifford said. “The girls have been pretty good about just keep going. They don’t seem to get down just because they’re behind, they keep plugging away. That is actually super important.”
Adna will face longtime rival Napavine also on Monday night. Richardson is hopeful, even in a loss, some positive moments can be transferred to another league contest.
“They’re going to come out with a little more fire,” he said. “We go in there and play like we can, it is a winnable game.”
