MONTESANO–It’s a rare occurrence to earn a mercy-rule victory in a district-semifinal game, but a fierce and focused Montesano team did just that in routing the Rochester Warriors 8-0 on Thursday at Montesano High School, punching a ticket to the state tournament in the process.
The Bulldogs (15-1-2 overall) entered the game having shut out the Warriors (7-11-2) in their two previous meetings this season, but Rochester carried with it some momentum after coming off a surprise 1-0 upset of King’s Way Christian in the district quarterfinals.
It made no difference to Monte, which got off to another patented quick start, scoring two goals inside of six minutes thanks to its pair of star forwards to quickly put Rochester on its heels.
Senior Lex Stanfield scored off an assist from midfielder Ashley Hill just 3:22 seconds into the game with junior forward Jaelyn Butterfield scoring less than two minutes later to double Monte’s lead.
“We wanted to send a message,” Montesano head coach Fidel Sanchez said. “They come up from Vancouver, beating King’s Way, the No. 2 seed down there and they had a lot of confidence. The message was: Cut the confidence, cut it right away. Don’t let them think they have a chance against us and that’s what we did.”
PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano’s Lizzy Kolar (25), Ashley Hill (3), Jaelyn Butterfield and Haley Schweppe (44) celebrate a goal during the Bulldogs’ 8-0 win over Rochester in a 1A District 4 Tournament semifinal game on Thursday at Montesano High School.
The Bulldogs continued to pepper the Warriors net throughout the first half.
Monte took a 3-0 lead on a goal from Hill in the 28th minute and held a comfortable 5-0 lead at halftime after Stanfield assisted on Butterfield’s second goal of the game followed two minutes later when Stanfield scored off an assist by freshman Lizzy Kolar.
After a dominant first-half performance against a Warriors team that had ramped up the physical play against Monte in their previous meetings this season, the Bulldogs had a strategy to make sure they got out of Thursday’s game intact.
“When Rochester started getting really physical with us to try to slow us down again, we told the girls, ‘You know what, just finish it. Finish it early,’” Sanchez said. “And we mercy-ruled them.”
Stanfield and Butterfield completed their hat tricks early in the 42nd and 46th minutes, respectively, with Butterfield scoring her fourth of the game to end it with 10 minutes remaining and send the Bulldogs into the district-championship game for the 11th consecutive season.
Monte outshot Rochester 21-2, with 19 of those shots on-target.
Montesano will face undefeated defending-district champion Seton Catholic (17-0-1) in the district-title game. The Cougars defeated La Center 2-0 in the semifinals and haven’t given up a goal since Sept. 30.
The game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Tenino’s Beaver Stadium.
Seton Catholic defeated Monte 1-0 in last year’s district championship and Monte will be looking to snap a long streak of bad luck in the district-title game.
The Bulldogs are 1-10 in district-championship games over the past 11 years, the lone win coming against Tenino in the 2020 COVID year, which was “unofficially” a district-title game as the state tournament was canceled.
“It would be nice to win one. We’ve been there so many times yet always lose the title game,” Sanchez said. “The message is to win out and get a top-three seed in state. Let’s get after it and show the community we got one.”
PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano midfielder Ashley Hill (right) looks forward during an 8-0 victory over Rochester in a 1A District 4 Tournament semifinal game on Thursday at Montesano High School.
Sanchez believes this may be Montesano’s best team to date, including the squad that finished third in state two seasons ago. Much of that has to do with his all-state caliber tandem up front, as he said Stanfield and Butterfield make up the most dangerous attacking threat in the 1A class.
“These girls have been putting together a really strong season,” he said. “We’re going to give (Seton Catholic) a heck of a game. The way our girls are playing and our forwards are probably the best two-combination in the state. … Nobody has the forwards we have and that’s a scary duo up there. I like that challenge. My girls are ready.”
Rochester 0 0 – 0
Montesano 5 3 – 8
First half – 1, Montesano, Stanfield (Hill), 4th minute. 2, Montesano, Butterfield, 6th minute. 3, Montesano, Hill, 28th minute. 4, Montesano, Butterfield (Stanfield), 36th minute. 5, Montesano, Stanfield (Kolar), 38th minute.
Second half – 6, Montesano, Stanfield, 42nd minute. 7, Montesano, Butterfield, 46th minute. 8, Montesano, Butterfield, 70th minute.
