By Brendan Carl

For The Daily World

After scoring just three goals in its first seven games this season, the Aberdeen offense exploded for three goals in the first half and held on to take down Hoquiam 4-2 in a non-league girls soccer match at Olympic Stadium on Saturday to net the Bobcats their first victory of the season.

Aberdeen’s Emmy Walsh didn’t take long to put the Bobcats ahead for good. The sophomore scored on her first shot, just two minutes into the game and Aberdeen (1-5-2) led the rest of the way. Walsh would score two more times to cap off her hat trick in the first 24 minutes of play.

“(Emmy) was able to stay over the ball and had a couple great shots,” Aberdeen head coach Larry Fleming said. “We did well and we pressured them. We had a few let downs, but we are young. We got scored on, but we didn’t let down.”

Hoquiam (2-5-1) settled in defensively after Walsh’s third goal, but the Grizzlies never recovered from the early onslaught.

“We didn’t really do the best job executing,” Hoquiam head coach Drew Grannemann said. “We would have the build up, but whenever we went in for the cross it would be too wide. When we went in for a shot we would take one too many touches and kick it right to a defender. We knew they had speed and that we had to drop quick, we just didn’t drop for whatever reason. It took three goals and a halftime chat to finally, in the second half, absorb everything. We just came out a little too flat and a goal in the first two minutes is tough to rebound from mentally.”

Walsh’s hat trick was the product of Aberdeen using through balls to take advantage of its speed at the forward position. Chasing down a long pass in the second minute, Walsh ran onto the ball and fired a shot in from just outside the box. The sophomore added another marker six minutes later when she chased down another through ball and slipped a shot past the Hoquiam goalkeeper.

In the 24th minute, Walsh notched her third goal by racing past a defender and rolling a shot into the net from 12 yards out.

The Grizzlies finally got on the scoreboard in the 36th minute. Hoquiam’s Taylor Strom took a corner kick from the left side, but the ball bounced back out to her and she snuck it between the left post and the Aberdeen keeper.

Hoquiam’s defense was able to check back quickly to keep the Bobcats in check for the first 30 minutes of play in the second half.

The teams exchanged shots on goal, but the handful of chances on either side didn’t result in a score until the 73rd minute. This time it would be Aberdeen cleaning up a corner kick for a goal. A Bobcat corner bounced clear out to Abbie Bradt, who fired the ball just under the crossbar from almost 25 yards away.

Hoquiam’s Maya Jump blasted a shot in from around 22 yards out with less than two minutes left on the clock to add another marker for the Grizzlies, but the Bobcats had already added more than enough offense.

Fleming cited Walsh and Bradt for their work offensively, as well as Elizabeth Martinez for being a spark in the midfield. Grannemann praised Strom and Jump for strong performances.

On Tuesday, Aberdeen will travel to take on Tumwater while Hoquiam will host Montesano.

(Brendan Carl Photography) Aberdeen’s Emmy Walsh watches her shot roll into the net to cap off a hat trick in the first half against Hoquiam on Saturday. The Bobcats defeated the Grizzlies 4-2