GIRLS PREP SOCCER

Elma 2, Hoquiam 1

A late goal on a direct kick from Jillian Bieker lifted the Elma Eagles over Hoquiam 2-1 on Oct. 3 at Olympic Stadium in Hoquiam.

Elma generated seven shots on target in the first half and had most of their opportunities snuffed out by late-arriving defenders.

However, Elma’s Chloe Clark finally broke through in the 28th minute when she stole the ball from an Hoquiam defender, dribbled past the Grizzlies defense and beat keeper Katie Burnett with a shot just under the crossbar.

Elma held on to its 1-0 lead lead until the 60th minute when Hoquiam’s Emily Daniels tied the game. Daniels took advantage of a failed clearing attempt and ripped a shot on first touch that beat Paige Knutson as she dove to her left.

Elma head coach Evan Valentine said he was impressed with the increased intensity Hoquiam showed in the second half.

“Hoquiam picked up their game and worked a lot harder to give us a run for our money,” he said. “They forced us to to make some adjustments, but we should have put away more chances in the first half.”

The contest appeared to be headed toward overtime until Bieker’s aggressive play paid dividends when she drew a foul in the 78th minute.

Bieker took the free kick from just outside the box and sent a hard shot to the left of the wall to sneak the ball inside the post for the game winner.

Hoquiam head coach Drew Grannemann gave credit to Bieker for a well-placed shot, but was disappointed to see his team wait until the second half to elevate its level of play.

Grannemann said he sought to motivate his players going forward with an extended post-game talk.

“We talked about motivation and why we can’t find that motivation every single day. We talked about finding that consistency that we’re looking for. It’s a little bit of a different message, but hopefully it hits home and makes them think a little bit.”

Hoquiam played South Bend on the road Tuesday, but that game ended too late for this edition.

Elma played East County-rival Montesano in Elma on Tuesday, but that game also ended too late for this edition.

Valentine said he has confidence in his team going forward as long as they can do a better job of finishing in close.

“The offense is headed in the right direction,” he said. “I like the opportunities that we produced, but we have to put more of them away.”

Montesano 10, Forks 0

Montesano got four goals from junior midfielder Brooke Streeter en route to a 10-0 thrashing of the Forks Spartans on Oct. 3 at Spartan Stadium.

Monte scored three goals in the four minutes of the game as Forks had no answer for the Bulldogs’ offensive onslaught.

Freshman midfielder Jaiden King opened the scoring off an assist from Anabelle Estrada in the first minute of the game followed by back-to-back unassisted goals from Streeter and senior forward Anna Ayres in the third minute.

Streeter scored again in the 13th minute, off another assist from Estrada, followed by an unassisted goal from sophomore Sierra Birdsall.

Streeter tallied her third goal in the 31st minute and completed her four-goal game when she scored off an assist from King eight minutes later.

Sophie Barre, Izabel Cope and Madolyn Olson all scored in the second half for Monte.

While the game against the winless Spartans didn’t figure to be a competitive one, Montesano head coach Fidel Sanchez used the opportunity to get his reserves valuable playing time.

“We let the starters play for about 20 minutes, then started using our sub,” he said. “We were working on moving the ball from one side to the other and training our center-mids to look for the open space and the open player.”

– Ryan Sparks, Grays Harbor News Group

Montesano 9, Hoquiam 1

Montesano didn’t waste any time establishing a lead with two quick goals from Jaiden Morrison in the first 10 minutes as the Bulldogs cruised to a 9-1 win over Hoquiam at Jack Rottle Field in Montesano on Oct. 1.

Sideline dribble photo

Lightning struck twice for Morrison, who scored in the second and sixth minutes with break-away goals that quickly put the Bulldogs up 2-0.

Monte head coach Fidel Sanchez said Morrison’s early goals were the result of good ball movement through the midfield.

“It wasn’t her alone. We moved the ball well enough to give her those chances to get her open with a lot of time and space,” he said. “That’s one of the things that we worked on. We wanted to get the ball up to people so they can score goals. That’s what happened the first 10 minutes. We went after it and got it done.”

Brooke Streeter got on the score sheet as well, scoring back-to-back goals in the 15th and 17th minutes to make it 4-0.

Elleah Jones scored the first of her two goals in the 25th minute to bring the score to 6-0 at the time but Sanchez said the passing wasn’t as crisp for the Bulldogs at that point in the contest.

“The first 20 minutes were good and the second half of the first half was a little bit of a struggle,” he said. “We adjusted a little better in the second half and we started moving the ball again. It doesn’t matter what the score is, we have to stay focused.”

Passing miscues at the back led to Hoquiam’s only goal as the Grizzlies got on the board with a Sadie Carlyle goal in the 30th minute.

When the dust settled, Monte had an insurmountable 6-1 lead heading into the locker room, allowing both sides to get some of their bench players extra playing time in the final 40 minutes.

Monte scores photo

Hoquiam will hope for better luck when they take on Elma on Thursday at home at 7 p.m.

Montesano is also in action today with a 6 p.m. game at Forks.

Sanchez doesn’t know what kind of challenges Forks will bring but will be looking for his team to bring Tuesday’s level of intensity today.

“I told the girls that this sets the tone for the league. We wanted to get out there and play tough and fast. And we did that tonight,” he said.

Montesano’s Elleah Jones, left, celebrates with Brooke Streeter, middle, and Izabel Cope after scoring a goal in the 25th minute of the first half of a match against Hoquiam. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)

Montesano’s Sierra Birdsall controls a pass near the sidelines while defended by Hoquiam’s Emily Daniels in the first half of a match at Jack Rottle Field in Montesano. (Hasani Grayson | Grays Harbor News Group)