TENINO – Gracie Sweet has only been a goalie for roughly a year.
The Tenino High School sophomore has primarily been a midfielder/defender during her days in rec soccer and her freshman year.
Still, she mixed in time in the net and was eventually elevated to being a full-time goalie on junior varsity.
“It is definitely scary,” Sweet said. “Just play. You just go for the ball and that’s all you can do.”
Sweet delivered a signature moment in a not-your-average summer girls soccer match on Sunday night.
She came on after starting netminder Allison Kalkus got injured and had to leave the field in the first half, didn’t allow a goal in regulation and made the game-winning save in a penalty shootout to give the Beavers a 2-1 (4-3 PKs) victory over W.F. West in the Battle on the Blacktop championship contest.
“The adrenaline from the game was pumping,” Sweet said. “This is the number one game for me. I don’t think I’ve ever played better.”
It marks the first win for Tenino in its home tournament since 2021. In the six years of the tourney, the Beavers and Bearcats have each won it three times.
“This was huge for us,” Tenino head coach David Montgomery said. “You could tell they really, really wanted it. I'm at a little loss for words.”
As the minutes ticked down, the intensity rose up.
Tenino had a handful of players needing to be looked at by the coaching staff. For the first time ever in the tournament, the central referee pulled out a yellow card late in the second half.
Both sides were not willing to give an inch.
“They battled,” W.F. West assistant coach Mark Wilks said.
After 60 regulation minutes, it was all squared at 1-1. A penalty shootout would determine the champ.
It was Sweet’s first time as a goalie in a PK shootout. She immediately went down a 2-0 hole in the Bearcats first two kicks.
“I just wasn’t doing it right,” Sweet said. “I needed to get out of my head (and) do what I know.”
Tenino scored the next three to take the lead before W.F. West answered to make it 3-3 after five rounds. The Beavers scored first in the sixth round and Sweet stepped up for the clinching save.
The following kick rolled directly to Sweet – not having to move at all – and Tenino’s entire team broke out into screams of happiness.
“I was ready to jump for a corner,” Sweet said. “I do not think I’ve ever had a better feeling than that. This is such an important tournament for us. I just wanted to cry; I was so excited.”
W.F. West had to leave the field in disappointment.
“It is painful, not going to lie,” Wilks stated. “These kinds of tournaments are excellent for preparing us for the season. It is surprising we missed three (PKs) in a row.”
Ashlen Gruginksi, who won the golden boot for most goals in the three-day tournament with six, gave the Bearcats the lead in the opening half.
Once Sweet came in and the Beavers adjusted defensively, they didn’t let up another goal.
“You never want to sub out your goalie in the middle of the game and Gracie had a look of horror for half-a-second,” Montgomery said. “We knew that she would do the job.”
Tenino’s Tate Carbonneau equalized the game in the second half on a mini-scrum in front of the net. The Beavers left with two individual awards.
Callie Mickelson was voted as the tournament MVP with four goals and two assists and Kyla Watson was named as the best playmaker thanks to her four assists.
W.F. West’s Emily Mallonee earned the defensive MVP.
“We’ve been a younger team,” Montgomery said. “Now they have a little taste of success, I hope it carries into the season.”
The Tigers scored a second half equalizer and clipped Shelton in a penalty shootout to take third place at the Battle on the Blacktop with a 3-2 (3-2 PKs) victory.
For the third straight summer, Centralia nabbed a top-three finish at the tournament.
“Definitely very exciting for them,” Tigers head coach Luis Magana Reyna said. “I just wanted us to put a lot more pressure. I was happy with the performance.”
Cyndal Cills executed a perfectly bent free kick that plunked off the crossbar and into the back of the net in the second half to tie the game at 2-2. Yazmeen Robles scored the first goal of the night for Centralia.
Shelton missed its last three penalty kicks and the Tigers made two of the last three. They swarmed towards the 18-yard box in jubilation.
It is a group primarily made of freshmen and sophomores. Some, Reyna mentioned, will challenge and potentially start for varsity minutes this fall.
“I find myself making lists,” Reyna said. “Kind of spotted the ones that impressed me last year. It is going to be (tough) decisions, but that is good stress to have.”
