The Tumwater girls soccer team’s second go-around with Centralia looked similar to the first on paper, with the T-Birds riding out 5-0 winners at Tiger Stadium in a 2A EvCo matchup Thursday.
Centralia’s defense held out better in the first half Thursday than it did in its match up north on Sept. 12, with the Tigers keeping it scoreless until the 25th minute, when Kayla Pope gave Tumwater a 1-0 lead.
The score would stay there until stoppage time of the first half, when the T-Birds (10-0-1, 7-0 2A EvCo) earned a penalty kick that Emalyn Shaffer converted to make it 2-0 at the break.
“I believe in the first half we played pretty well,” Centralia coach Luis Magana Reyna said. “We stopped most of Tumwater’s attacks and they never really went through our defense. Our defense held strong.”
Centralia was fighting the uphill battle against the league favorites with a changed-up lineup, with Megan Tokstad slotting into the back line for an injured Yarexy Mejia, and Makenna Horst coming in as a second defensive midfielder next to Olivia Gruginski.
Ava Jones bolstered the Tumwater lead with goals in the 48th and 60th minutes, and Pope added her second in the 77th to make it 5-0.
The Tigers (6-4, 4-3 2A EvCo) will try to get back on track Tuesday at Rochester, while Tumwater will take on Black Hills.
