TENINO–The trials and tribulations of the saga that is the Montesano girls soccer program’s lengthy string of district-championship futility took a dark and twisted turn for Bulldogs fans after a gut-wrenching 3-2 loss (5-4 on penalty kicks) to Seton Catholic in the 1A District 4 Tournament title game on Saturday in Tenino.

In their 11th consecutive trip to the district-championship game, the Bulldogs (15-2-2 overall) appeared to be well on their way to winning their first non-COVID era title, leading by two goals late in the game.

After a scoreless first half highlighted by a key point-blank diving save from Monte senior goal keeper Izzie Taylor, the Bulldogs broke the goose egg thanks to the offensive pressure of forward Jaelyn Butterfield.

Draped by a Cougars double-team, Monte’s speedy goal-scorer charged toward the Seton Catholic net on a long, bouncing ball forward. After a collision involving Butterfield, several Seton Catholic defenders and the Cougars goal keeper, Butterfield found herself alone in front of an open net with the deflected ball just feet away from her. The junior calmly shot the ball into the net with a back-heel kick for a 1-0 lead in the 56th minute.

Five minutes later, Montesano doubled its lead.

A long throw-in by senior forward Lex Stanfield was re-directed by Butterfield past Seton Catholic keeper Sydney Reilly, rolling just inside the far post for a 2-0 lead.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano senior forward Lex Stanfield (10) gets a head on the ball during the a 3-2 loss (5-4 on penalty kicks) to Seton Catholic in the 1A District 4 Championship on Saturday in Tenino.

The Bulldogs continued to play good defense throughout the second half and appeared to be well on their way to winning the district title for just the second time in 11 straight tries with a 2-0 lead and under 10 minutes to play.

But problems marking up would lead to disaster for the Bulldogs as Seton Catholic (17-0-1) cut the deficit in half when sophomore forward Lila Chase was left alone on the far post. Chase converted a goal on a high-arcing cross to make it a 2-1 game in the 73rd minute.

Just two minutes later, Cougars sophomore defender Emma Whitehouse was left unmarked on a corner kick. Whitehouse ripped a one-timer into the net to tie the game at 2-2, leaving Montesano stunned.

Neither team would score through the final minutes of regulation and through two overtime periods, sending the game into a penalty-kick shootout.

Monte had the early advantage in the PK shootout after Seton Catholic’s first attempt was shot wide by Addie Sahler.

Bulldogs shooters Mayce Sanchez, Ashley Hill, Regan Wintrip and Butterfield each converted their attempts, as did the next three Cougars to put Monte ahead 4-3.

Stanfield stepped to the spot as Montesano’s fifth shooter, with the district title at her feet as a goal would give the Bulldogs the victory. But Stanfield’s low shot to the left post was saved by a diving Reilly, extending the shootout.

Cougars shooter Hailey Herboth scored to tie the shootout at 4-4 and was followed by another Reilly save, this time on another low shot to the left post by Mary Campbell.

Seton Catholic did not let its opportunity to clinch its second-consecutive district crown slip away, claiming the championship as Chase converted a penalty kick for the 5-4 shootout victory, leaving Montesano crestfallen.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Montesano midfielder Lainey Robinson (left) boots the ball away from Seton Catholic’s Conley Richardson during the Bulldogs’ 3-2 loss (5-4 on penalty kicks) in the 1A District 4 Championship on Saturday in Tenino.

“I don’t know. We can’t explain it,” Montesano head coach Fidel Sanchez said of the loss. “We didn’t play what we normally do because Seton Catholic was playing a really unorganized style of game, just sending it forward and sending it forward, so we couldn’t really settle in. But that’s OK because we were up 2-0 and showed the state we can play with the best teams in the state. We can play with them and we should have beat them. … That’s just soccer. The game works in really weird ways sometimes and that’s what happened to us. It just happened to be a bad ending.”

Montesano now moves on to the state tournament and still expects to be a high-seed when the pairings are announced on Sunday.

In the past, Montesano’s district-title defeats have meant nothing at the state tournament as the Bulldogs have placed in the final four in three of the past four years, including a program-best third-place finish two seasons ago.

“We showed the seeding committee we should be in the top four. … It was a PK shootout and could have gone either way,” Sanchez said. “Bigger trophy ahead of us, that’s for sure.”

Seton Catholic 0 2 0 0 1 – 3

Montesano 0 2 0 0 0 – 2

Scoring

First half – none.

Second half – 1, Montesano, Butterfield, 56th minute. 2, Montesano, Butterfield (Stanfield), 61st minute. 3, Seton Catholic, Chase, 73rd minute. 4, Seton Catholic, Whitehouse, 75th minute.

First overtime – none.

Second overtime – none.

Penalty kicks: 5, Seton Catholic (Moore, Curtis, Valdovinos-Argueta, Herboth, Chase). 4, Montesano (Sanchez, Hill, Wintrip, Butterfield).