Soccer Dist 4 2A: Columbia River rolls past RA Long to Dist Title, Tumwater & WF West survive & advance to State

5/10/2024

The District 4 boys soccer tournament came to a dramatic end in the 2 winner to state, loser out matches Thursday night while Columbia River sent a message that they intend to hold onto the State Championship. The Rapids blew through the GSHL regular season with a 15-1 record slipping only to Hudson’s Bay in a 4-3 loss.

C-R finished the regular season at 16-1 and began their run thorugh districts with a 4-0 shut win over Aberdeen in the opening round. The Rapids then demolished Tumwater in the Semi-finals 8-0 and in the Championship match Thursday night beat R A Long for the 3rd time this season 7-1. Columbia River outscored their opponents in the District Tournament 19-1 and that is now their record for the season 19-1 overall.

For more on the Rapids win over the Lumberjacks check out Will Denner’s story in The Columbian on this link.

There were 2 other matches last night that came down to the wire in winner to state, loser out matches. W F West beat Hockinson 1-0 in a shoot-out (5-4). For more on this game check out the Chronicle’s Dylan Wilhelm’s story on this link.

In the game on the Eli Sports Network the Tumwater T-Birds advanced beating Centralia 3-2. The interesting thing about the 5 goals scored in this match is all of them were from set pieces.

Tumwater began early with a free kick by Gavin Cuoio in the 8th minute. Cuoio lined it up just outside the box to the left side and delivered the shot for a 1-0 lead. The T-Birds then added to their lead in stoppage time with another free kick just outside the box but this time straight on from Dylan Stevens and Tumwater went to the break with a 2-0 lead.

The T-Birds came out strong in the 2nd half and looked as if they iced the game going up 3 with a goal in the 46th off a corner kick. Malachi Vuong put the ball into the net after a mad scramble right in front of the net and the T-Birds took a commanding 3-0 lead.

Centralia surprised everyone with the season they had finishing tied for 2nd in the EVCO 2A and a game out of 1st. The surprising Tigers were not going to limp away in a one-sided defeat and turned up the heat offensively on the T-Birds firing run after run against the Tumwater defense. The Tigers finally broke through in the 48th mintute when Alan Vasquez booted in a free kick straight on to get the offense on the board.

The Tigers were relentless in their attack and it paid off again in the 66th with the ball in the box the T-Birds got called for a foul giving Centralia a penalty kick that Damian Corona blasted in to make it 3-2 with 14-minutes to play.

Centralia had several more runs including a dangerous chance just before full time was whistled off a corner kick and Tumwater withstood the final 20 minutes of fury the Tigers had unleashed and are headed to the State Tournament. T-Bird keeper Davyn McGilvrey had a huge kick save in the 1st half just before the T-Birds 2nd goal which was likely the play of the game and added 7 saves on the night. Centralia had several other shots especially in tghe final 20 minutes that either went wide of goal or over the top.

Columbia River, R A Long, W F West and Tumwater will all find out who, when and where they play in the opening round of the State Tournament on Sunday as the selection committees will meet and release the state brackets.

For more on this game check out our Postgame show with the ESN crew, interviews with both coaches and video highlights below.

ESN’s Postgame Show