High School Westerns - Day 1 Recap – Girls’ Division
Dave DeLuca
Posted: June 5, 2016 02:23 AM
 |
|
Day one of the High School Western Regional Championships in Corvallis, Ore., saw scorching temperatures nearing 100 degrees. The rule of thumb at the Crystal Lake Sports Fields was hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
Related Links:
|
Thankfully, event organizers were well aware of the potential dangers of competing under such conditions heading into the weekend.
"We will likely have to make adjustments to the schedule," said Tournament Director Ayrril Boggess. "Our Plan B includes taking a break from play during the hottest part of the day and moving the last game to later in the evening. We'll be watching the weather and the athletes very carefully."
True to form, adjustments were made. In the girls’ division, round times were shortened, and all games were played to 11.
Saturday play got underway with a surprisingly close match pitting first-seeded Nathan Hale against the ninth-seeded Summit Storm. Nathan Hale won the match 8-5 with balanced scoring, including two goals each by Emma Constantino and Lian Gamble. The Raiders’ second round match up against Seattle rival Ingraham was a clinic in defense. Nathan Hale won the match 7-2. Savannah Kanis ended the match with three Ds. Nathan Hale then defeated Berkeley 7-5 in their third game of the day. Sophie Yasuda scored two goals in the game while Emma Constantino and Ruby Cassidy had two assists each. The Raiders completed a sweep of the day by handing home team Corvallis their only loss in a close match that ended at 7-6. Constantino had two more assists and ended the day with six in all. The Raiders earned a first round bye to head straight into the semifinals on Sunday morning.
Surprisingly, fifth-seeded Crescent Valley went 3-1 on Saturday. Their only loss was to South Eugene, while they collected victories over Monarch, Roosevelt and Garfield. All of their games were closely contested, making Crescent Valley a team still very capable of having a competitive Sunday, especially with a first-round bye in Sunday’s championship bracket. Lilly Steen scored 10 goals on the day, and Gabrielle Vandevelder had 10 assists.
Hometown team Corvallis went 3-1 in Saturday competition beginning with an easy 11-3 win over Berkeley. They managed to improve the score line in their next game, winning 11-1 against in-state rival Summit. Ingraham was the next to fall to Corvallis’ Spartan Force by a score of 7-5. Corvallis' only loss was a close one to undefeated Nathan Hale 7-6. Clea Poklemba had an impressive 18 assists on the day, along with 11 Ds, for Corvallis. Her teammate Katie Moreno added 11 goals on Saturday. The 3-1 showing by the locals earned them the second spot in Pool A and a Sunday morning quarterfinals game in the championship bracket.
Roosevelt exceeded the expectations of a seventh-seed to win three of their four games on Saturday. They soundly defeated South Eugene and Garfield before falling to Crescent Valley by just one goal. Roosevelt ended the day by defeating Monarch 8-7, thanks to three goals each from Anna Goddu and Margaret Davies. Davies ended the day with seven goals. Like Corvallis, the Rough Riders earned the second spot in their pool, Pool B, and a quarterfinal game in Sunday's championship bracket. They’ll face Ingraham at 8:30 a.m.
Third-seeded South Eugene was the fourth team to go 3-1 on Saturday. The South Eugene ladies got their loss out of the way in the first round by falling to Roosevelt 8-3. They then outscored their next three opponents 24-11, defeating Garfield, Crescent Valley and Monarch. Yausi Khajavei ended the day with 12 assists for South Eugene. Their loss to Roosevelt put them in the third spot in Pool B at the end of the day. They’ll face Corvallis in quarterfinals on Sunday morning.
The bad news for sixth-seeded Ingraham was that they went 2-2 on Saturday. The good news was that it was good enough to get them into the championship bracket. Kaia Roast led the way for Ingraham with 10 assists.
Second-seeded Monarch narrowly defeated Garfield in the day’s first round. Mikayla Seaward scored three of Monarch's goals. Her teammate Jennica Kelm added two goals and two assists. Unfortunately, Monarch dropped their next three matches to fall into Sunday's consolation bracket. Berkeley's lone win on Saturday came against Summit in a low-scoring affair that ended at 5-3. Tanya Bearson and Thalia Ward each had two assists in the win. California Roll also landed in Sunday’s consolation bracket.
Both Summit and Garfield went winless on Saturday but made the consolation bracket with a chance to improve their final standings.
Sunday’s forecast is looking a little better than what we saw today in Corvallis, with the high predicted to be only 91 degrees, but we’ll see what the day brings.
Have any questions or comments? We welcome community feedback and discussion made in a respectful manner. Please refrain from profanity or personal attacks, as such public comments negatively reflect on our sport and community.