TUMWATER — Two weeks ago, the Tumwater boys soccer team won its first two league games, the most recent coming on March 28 against Centralia.
Since then, the T-Birds have taken their spring break, and Tuesday against Black Hills was their first game since that win at Tiger Stadium.
“We were worried about how we were gonna respond,” Tumwater coach John Hayes said. “I talked to them briefly before the game, just ‘go do your thing.’”
The T-Birds did their thing and then some, scoring four goals in the second half to pull away for a convincing 6-1 win.
“You never know what’s gonna happen in a rivalry,” Hayes said. “I think they needed to just get over that initial (aspect) and play their game. Once they settled down and played their game, things happened.”
Dylan Stevens opened the scoring in the 25th minute, but the Wolves were able to respond quickly with a wacky goal.
Shortly after a corner kick was put into play, the ball ricocheted off a Tumwater defender and bounced off the crossbar. The ball pinballed around for another few seconds before Ethan Badger put a shot on net and past the arms of the outstretched keeper to tie the game at one.
“It was not pretty,” Black Hills coach Jackie Zvirzdys Wood said with a laugh. “We’ve been talking a lot about what I call picking up the peanuts … That was really exciting, cause it’s something we’ve practiced, and they nailed it. And then we got a goal. And then we kind of fell apart.”
Stevens scored his second of the match in the 31st to give the T-Birds a 2-1 lead, and the floodgates opened in the second half.
Over a 20-minute stretch in the second half, four different Thunderbirds — Dylan Salapu, Gavin Cuoio, Grady Harroun, and Kaydon Hanks — scored, extending the lead to five.
“We had a good talk at halftime,” Hayes said. “In the second half, they did everything we asked them to do at halftime. It was a great adjustment … Having the other guys get on the board and get the confidence, it was huge.”
Aiden Aaseby didn’t score a goal, but he did have three assists, and he earned praise from Hayes after the match.
“He had a fantastic showing tonight,” Hayes said. “His minutes were crucial.”
Zvirzdys Wood noted that the Wolves are missing a couple of pieces from their back line, but she also acknowledged that they may not have been fully ready to play on Tuesday night.
“If you don’t have heart and energy, it makes it a little difficult sometimes,” Zvirzdys Wood said. “I am really proud of the guys that have stepped up and come in. It’s been nice to see their development, even though the score didn’t reflect it.”
Black Hills (3-4-2, 1-2 2A EvCo) will be back at home next Tuesday, April 15, to host W.F. West, while Tumwater (4-4, 3-0 2A EvCo) will host Woodland in a non-league contest on Thursday.
“We’ll throw our boys out there and see how we do,” Hayes said.
