TUMWATER — Rosters change and so do the coaches on the sideline. Yet one thing has remained consistent since the beginning of the 2018 season.
The Evergreen Conference in girls soccer runs through Tumwater High School.
“The pressure of having to repeat is a privilege,” first-year T-Birds head coach Abbey Bergquist said. “It is something that has to be continuously created and earned.”
From Sept. 27, 2018 to an 80-minute match on Tuesday, Tumwater has gone through the league unblemished and it continued with a 2-0 triumph over W.F. West at Tumwater District Stadium.
The last time the Thunderbirds dropped a league game was the regular season finale to Black Hills in 2017. That group proceeded to go two-and-out in the Class 2A District 4 tournament. What has followed is a run unlike any other in SW Washington.
“I think it is well-known,” Bergquist said. “We have seniors, coaches who have been a part of this program (through) Tumwater’s dominance.”
It was a challenging non-league slate for Tumwater (3-3-1, 2-0 EvCo) that only featured one win, a draw with 4A Eastlake and back-to-back multiple goal setbacks to state tournament regular Seattle Academy and Steillacoom.
Like her predecessors, Bergquist made that portion of the schedule as difficult as possible to gear up for the league season and a potential run to the state tournament.
“With those games, they played really well till the whistle,” she said.
The start was as quick as could be.
In the third minute off a corner kick, freshman Brynn Carson was right in the middle of the penalty box and touched the ball past Bearcats keeper Charlee Nelson for the first goal. Senior Sophie Boatright doubled the margin in the 25th minute.
It caused W.F. West (5-1-1, 1-1) to play out of sorts in the opening 40 minutes, a site far too common for teams in the league that tangle with Tumwater.
“It felt like we started to kind of almost see shadows out there, like we were playing against 14 players and we were frantic and rushed. It was really sloppy,” its head coach Kevin Schultz said. “It wasn’t like they broke us down. We just got to keep battling and hope we can build the confidence.”
Whenever the Bearcats would get a foot on the ball, the T-Birds would win a challenge and take back possession. Their man-marking was relentless from the opening kick to the halftime whistle.
“Those are the details and that’s how we practice,” Bergquist said. “Everybody is touched tight. We don’t give any space.”
Nothing found the back of the net in the second half despite five total combined shots and four of them on frame. Both coaches had very different reactions to the remainder of the match.
For Schultz, he was pleased with the back line that kept the T-Birds in check.
“Really challenged them to show their character to compete and they did that,” he said. “They were tremendous in the second half; everybody stepped in and played well.”
For Bergquist, the intensity dropped off in her mind.
“We’re going to address some of those things,” she said.
Tumwater will take on Shelton while W.F. West battles Aberdeen at home, both matches scheduled for Thursday night.
“The big thing to me is every game, whether you win or lose, you have until the start of practice the next day to kind of flush it,” Schultz said. “I expect this group to bounce back. I think this is one of the more mentally tough groups that I’ve coached anywhere.”
