Zach Martin / zach@chronline.com
All the Centralia High School boys soccer team has been doing for the past 20-plus days is building home wins.
Beating Aberdeen 1-0 on the last day of March, upsetting Tumwater with a thrilling 2-1 win in overtime, and putting everything together for a 5-0 win against Rochester. did.
“I feel very comfortable,” Tigers head coach Noel Vazquez said. “We don't want people to dictate how we play on our home field. That's the backbone of how we play at home.”
Centralia didn't leave Tiger Stadium Friday night in the Chronicle Cup, but it did so with a satisfying consolation prize.
Freshman Damian Corona was in the right spot at the right time, burying a free ball past WF West goaltender Kayden Page in the 85th minute to give the Tigers extra time against their archrival in the Evergreen Conference clash. They won the match 2-1.
“The boys love to win as a team,” Vasquez said. “The key to success is repetition, even if it's boring.”
Two weeks ago, the standings were crowded for the final spot in the Class 2A District 4 tournament. There are currently a few league games left and the table is crowded.
Aberdeen, Centralia and Tumwater all have four losses, while the Tigers and T-Birds have six wins, one more than the Bobcats.
Rochester is one game back and Shelton, which pulled off a 3-2 upset of Tumwater on Friday, is two games back.
Aberdeen still has three league games remaining next week, hosting both Centralia (7-5, 6-4 EvCo) and Tumwater in the next six days, while Rochester will take on the Thunderbirds next Friday. move north to
All in all, a tough league season could get even weirder.
“I feel happy, I feel joy,” Centralia goaltender Alejandro Arevalo said. “It was a hell of a game. It feels great after beating them. This is something we should do more often. Never back down.”
For a moment, it looked like the game was going to go into a second overtime, but then it went to penalties. Corona's goal came with less than a minute left.
The 25+ yard shot went a little into the air and Page jumped up to catch it. The ball swung in his hands and it fell to Corona's feet, who tied the ball to lead the Tigers to jubilation.
“We had to follow up the shot,” Vazquez said. “You never know where it's going to go. It was our turn.”
Arevalo helped push the game into overtime.
WF West (9-3, 8-2) picked up the pace and earned a corner kick with less than two minutes left in regulation time. They had a shot on goal from a scrum in front of the net, but Arevalo made a save to keep the game level.
“I sacrificed my ribs for that,” Arevalo said. “It was a pretty tough save. I stared at it a little bit. I trusted my instincts.”
Bearcats head coach Allen Anderson felt his group played tight most of the night. What went well this season fell short on Friday.
“They were nervous. It was a big moment trying to seal the league,” Anderson said. “Friday's performance wasn't necessarily our best performance. When you come to a grass field like this, it's hard to adjust.”
WF West took a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute when defender Charles Comiskey scored on a rebound from their own corner kick scrum. Angel Rojas scored the tying goal off Alex Hernandez's head, and Centralia responded with a set piece.
The silver lining for the Bearcats was that they won the two games 5-2 on aggregate to win the Chronicle Cup again and seal the top seed in the district tournament with an upset of Tumwater.
A win over Black Hills on Tuesday would clinch the first outright EvCo title in more than 25 years.
“As difficult as it is, I tried to tell the boys that I wanted them to be proud of what they accomplished,” Anderson said. “When you wake up in the morning, it sinks in right away.”
Centralia doesn't have a district berth in its hands, but a win against Black Hills next Friday will move it one step closer to qualifying for the postseason for the first time since 2016.
“I'm looking forward to at least being able to look at the door and be like, 'Okay, I'm going to walk through here and be at a big party,'” Vasquez said. “Everyone here is experiencing it, except us. We're so excited to go there with our balloons and be a part of the big festivities.”
