Five years in row, the Montesano High School girls soccer team left the pitch of the 1A District 4 Championship game tasting defeat, leaving some to wonder if raising a district trophy would ever happen at all.
On Saturday they raised it high.
Montesano controlled the pace of play and made the most of its offensive opportunities in a 3-0 district championship-clinching victory over the Tenino Beavers at Jack Rottle Field in Montesano, ending years of district tournament disappointment in the process.
Montesano’s Zoee Lisherness, right, and Tenino’s Morgan Miner jostle for possession during the 1A District 4 Championship game on Saturday, March 20, 2021 at Jack Rottle Field in Montesano. (Ryan Sparks | The Daily World)
“It feels very good to finally have the title and to have won,” said Montesano midfielder and senior co-captain Brooke Streeter, who has been on the losing end of three previous district title contests. “And we won as a team so I’m really proud of everybody.”
“It’s so surreal right now. It’s going to take a little bit (to set in),” said an emotional Bulldogs senior co-captain Zoee Lisherness after the landmark victory. “To have my last game be winning districts, it’s everything.”
As they have done all season, Lisherness and Streeter had a major impact on the game.
Lisherness, a forward/midfielder that plays with the same fiery intensity that matches her hair color, out-hustled the Tenino defense on a long, lobbing pass from Streeter to win possession. Lisherness then sent a low shot to the right of the Tenino keeper for a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute.
In the second half, the pair were at it again. Lisherness took a feed from Vanna Prom and distributed a perfect lead pass to free Streeter, who was making a run through the middle of the Beavers’ defensive third. Streeter did the rest, slotting a shot just inside the left post for a 2-0 Monte lead in the 53rd minute.
With Monte nursing a two-goal lead and the game still in the balance, Bulldogs midfielder Jaiden King — who had been hampered by a leg injury suffered in a semi-final win over La Center two days earlier — came up with the biggest shot of her prep career.
The Bulldogs were awarded a free kick from approximately 25-yards out and decided to run a set play rather than take a crack at a long, looping shot over a Tenino wall which had blocked a similar attempt — on a gutsy leaping deflection off the face of the Beavers’ Ashley Schow — earlier in the first half.
Prom took the freebie and sent a pass wide to Streeter, who then fed a cross to the front of the net toward Lisherness, but the attempt was thwarted by a Tenino defender and deflected away from goal. The ball went straight to the foot of an awaiting King, who blistered a shot just inside the left post for a 3-0 Monte lead with just over 10 minutes left in the game.
“That third goal was a beauty because we just practiced that set piece yesterday,” Montesano head coach Fidel Sanchez said. “So it was nice to get a goal from that.”
With a three-goal lead and time winding down, the realization began to settle in to the minds of the Monte players that a district championship was finally theirs.
“With the second goal, I thought, ‘They could come back.’ A two-goal lead is very iffy,” Streeter said. “But when we got the third one I felt that we got this now and it’s time to keep (possession) and not let them score. I’m really proud of our defense for not giving them a chance to score.”
The Montesano defense was stellar on Saturday. Led by its starting back row of Madi Campbell, Emma Salazar, Sophie Kupka, holding midfielder Paige Lisherness and a host of substitutes, the Bulldogs limited the touches of the Tenino’s 100-plus goal-scorer Brie Dell and held the Beavers to just a few serious scoring chances, helping Bulldogs senior goal keepers Taylor Stenbeck and Ellie Barbo to keep a clean sheet in goal.
“I think we had a plan and the girls executed it very well,” Sanchez said. “We focused on what (Tenino) did well and took that away and focused on what we do well and keep that going.”
Montesano senior midfielder Brooke Streeter, left, sends the ball forward while Tenino’s Grace Vestal defends during the 1A District 4 title game on Saturday, March 20, 2021 in Montesano. (Ryan Sparks | The Daily World)
Montesano entered Saturday’s final having lost five straight district title games dating back to the 2015 season. The first four losses were suffered at the hand of King’s Way Christian while last year the Bulldogs fell 1-0 to Tenino in the title game.
With no state championship tournament this season due to lockdown restrictions, Monte players — particularly its seniors — knew Saturday’s contest was a now-or-never affair.
“(Tenino) gave us a really good fight in the beginning. I guess we just wanted it more and really got to the goal,” Streeter said. “It’s the perfect way to end my senior season.”
“All of the emotions came out,” Zoee Lisherness said of her initial reaction after the final whistle blew. “Last game, championship, champions … It all flooded in.”
“We’ve been chasing this thing for so many years,” Sanchez said. “Finally, we got one. … It’s a dream come true for these girls and I’m so proud of them.”
Tenino 0 0 — 0
Montesano 1 2 — 3
Top Players: Montesano — Streeter (G, A); Z. Lisherness (G, A); King (G)
