HS School Soccer: T-Birds grind out road win at Centralia

3/28/2025

Tumwater 2, Centralia 0

(Centralia, WA) The Tumwater T-Birds used a dominating offense in the 2nd half to bust open a defensive grinder to pull out a hard fought 2-0 win. The win was the 2nd in a row for the T-Birds and both EVCO 2A league victories. The loss was the 3rd in a row for Centralia who began the year 3-0.

In the 1st half the game was dominated by the defenses with both backlines holding firm and each keeper, Davyn McGilvery for Tumwater and the Tiger’s Alejandro Arevalo both recorded several saves. McGilvery finished the match with 10 stops and Arevalo had 7. The match was even 0-0 at the half.

As the 2nd half began both sides again were being stymied but it was Tumwater’s offense overwhelming and at one point lined up 5 corner kicks in the span of about 4 minutes. But Arevalo and the defense dug in and kept the slate clean.

The big shift came in about the 55th minute when Arevalo suffered what appeared to be a severe cramp to the point that T-Bird striker Dylan Stevens helped Arevalo try to stretch his leg out. Arevalo tried to get up but the it kept grabbing and he had to leave the field. This sent in Kycen Donahue to the box.

Donahue would immediately be challenged with a free kick from just outside the box. Tumwater’s Gavin Cuoio would put the shot right on frame challenging the fresh off the bench keeper but Donahue rose to the challenge with a punch save over the crossbar.

But the T-Bird wave continued and in the 60th minute Stevens got on a break-away into a one-on-one with Donahue and popped it to the right and into the net to break the 0-0 tie.

Centralia’s offense continued to struggle and Tumwater’s attacks were unrelenting that led to a Centralia defensive penalty in the box and a PK. Stevens lined up and punched home the insurance goal for a 2-0 lead in the 67th minute.

The T-Bird defense put a cap on the rest of the match and protected the shut-out to record their 2nd league win.

Our Thorbeckes MVP was an easy choice going to Dylan Stevens who scored both goals for the T-Birds.

Tumwater is now 2-0 in league play and 3-4 overall while the Tigers drop to 0-2 in league and 3-3 for the year. The T-Birds are off until April 8th when they return from Spring break when they host Black Hills. The Tigers are back in action next Tuesday on the 1st at WF West.

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