Boys Prep Soccer Roundup: East County Civil War ends in a stalemate

Published 1:30 am Friday, March 20, 2026

Elma and Montesano battled to a tie game as we review Thursday’s boys prep soccer games on the Harbor.

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BOYS PREP SOCCER

Elma 1, Montesano 1

The first iteration of the boys prep soccer version of the East County Civil War ended in a rain-soaked stalemate on Thursday in Montesano.

Montesano (2-1-1 overall, 2-0-1 1A Evergreen) and Elma (2-1-1, 2-0-1) ended their first meeting of the season in a 1-1 tie, with both goals coming in the second half.

With both teams coming into the rivalry game unbeaten in two league games, neither could put one into the netting through the first 40 minutes of play.

Elma had the better chances early, including a header from junior forward Manny Venegas off a corner kick from senior defender Matthew Wood that rang off the cross bar.

Monte’s best chance in the first half came on a hard shot off the foot of junior midfielder Daniel Schallon from just inside the 18-yard box, but Elma keeper Trey Yeager was equal to the task, making the save to keep the game scoreless.

The Bulldogs came out in the second half with a great sense of urgency, leading to sustained offensive pressure.

It paid off in the 43rd minute when a hard shot by senior midfielder Cris Tobar was blocked by Yeager, but the rebound went straight to senior Terek Gunter, who put it into an open net for a 1-0 lead.

“What a great play. Those two guys this year have been 1-2 for us. … Terek and Chris really do a good job together,” said Montesano head coach Fidel Sanchez, who added his team applied what they discussed at halftime to the pitch. “We said, ‘Everything we planned for is working. We are the ones that are attacking and denying everything they do. We just have to take advantage of our chances.’ And we did that right away.”

Montesano continued to apply pressure throughout the second half but failed to get another goal past Yeager and the Eagles’ defense.

It wasn’t until the 67th minute that Elma would take advantage of one of its few second-half set pieces to tie the game.

Eagles junior midfielder Ivan Rodriguez took a corner kick and sent it low toward the near post.

Elma junior forward Manny Venegas raced in to connect on a one-time, hammering the ball into the top corner to tie the game at 1-1.

“We subbed Ivan in right there and he and I had a quick conversation on the sideline. I think they kind of worked things out together too,” Elma head coach Carson Seaberg said of the game-tying goal. “They are two smart players, they’re savvy. They know how to take advantage of those situation from time to time. They are fun to coach.”

Both teams had time in the opposition’s final third over the final 13 minutes of the game, but no real danger was placed on Yeager or Monte goal keeper Matt Causey as the game ended in a tie.

With the league choosing not to play overtime/shootouts as part of a wider decision across district teams, Elma and Montesano each earned a point in the 1A Evergreen League standings with the tie.

Both have seven points, two points behind Forks for first place in the league race.

“I feel like the team that comes from behind on a tie is always happier than the team that gave up the lead. In that sense, the way our point system works now, we go to Montesano, we get a point and that’s a big deal. I’m proud of that,” Seaberg said. “I thought Montesano looked a little better than us when the game got scrambled and the ball bounced around. … It kind of looked like they had a little more game control. But when it was all said and done, I feel like we created enough opportunities to get a couple more goals. Hopefully, we keep improving.”

For Montesano, which was involved in two 10-goal games to start the season, holding Elma to one goal was a sign of improvement.

“Defensively, we were way better than before. We moved different pieces to different places and we shored up the defensive assignments. … We had to do that because we knew Elma was going to be one of the top teams in the league and we had to be prepared for that,” said Monte head coach Fidel Sanchez, who commended the defensive play of senior midfielder Rufus Krasowski, who shadowed Venegas most of his time on the pitch. “We were able to get up one and I really thought we were going to be fine the rest of the way. We let down a little bit on that corner kick. … Overall, I felt that we had control of the match for the majority of the match. I like what I saw from the boys. … It was a good result for us.”

Both team are scheduled to play league games at 7 p.m. on Monday.

Elma plays at Ilwaco while Montesano travels to Forks to play the Spartans.

Elma 0 1 – 1

Montesano 0 1 – 1

Scoring

First half – none.

Second half – 1, Montesano, Gunter (Tobar), 43rd minute. 2, Elma, Venegas (Rodriguez), 67th minute.

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Other games

Raymond-South Bend 8, Hoquiam 0