‘Unbelievable.’ Tri-City soccer team finishes 3rd in the nation
The Three Rivers Black 19U girls soccer team ran out of gas at the United States Youth Soccer Championships on Saturday in Orlando, losing 4-0 to the SC Wave Juniors of Wisconsin in the tournament semifinals.
That gives the Three Rivers squad a third-place finish at nationals.
Not bad, considering head coach Jason Quintero never thought this team would make it to regionals.
“It was unbelievable,” said Quinitero. “We were just kind of happy to be here (at nationals). Then we started grinding out results. It was pretty cool we got through the group (pool play) stage.”
The Tri-City team made it to the semifinals after going 3-0 in pool play with its 3-0 win over Total Futbol Academy of Ohio on Thursday.
In Thursday’s win, the Tri-City team jumped out to a 2-0 first-half lead on goals from Kate Hollenberg and Kelsey Fulton.
Because of that, Quintero was able to substitute in the first half. That was key, giving some players some rest after playing three games in three days in the Florida heat and humidity.
“I was able to give Claire Potter and Emma Haertling some rest,” said Quintero.
Kelsey Lovercheck added a third goal in the second half.
Once again Three Rivers’ defense was outstanding, as was the split keeper play of Danika Galbraith and Lindsey Pasena-Littlesky.
“Our goal-keeping and defense have been solid this tournament,” said Quintero.
In the Ohio team, Three Rivers faced a Super High Offside Trap defensively.
“I haven’t seen anything like that since the early 2000s,” said Quintero.
The trap confounded Three Rivers’ offense early.
“Any ball that goes backwards, they’re defense is stepping up,” said Quintero. “Our girls were taking off from the half line too soon. We were offside 14 times in the first half.”
But eventually, Three Rivers players figured things out and jumped out to the lead.
In pool play, Three Rivers outscored its three opponents by a 10-2 margin.
This team, said Quintero, was special.
“Skill-wise, this team was above average,” said Quintero. “But in terms of character, work rate, and togetherness, this team was at the top of my list. And this is my 18th year of coaching youth club soccer.”
What made it even more special was what this did for the Three Rivers Soccer Club organization as a whole.
“These girls have impacted those sixth, seventh and eighth grade girls as well,” he said. “Whether they know it or not, they’ve done that. It was such a special group.”
▪ The Wisconsin team ended up winning the national girls 19U title, beating Utah Celtic 2-1 in Sunday’s championship game.
Three Rivers faced Utah Celtic twice in the Far West Regionals in Boise in late June, drawing with them 2-2 in pool play, before beating Utah 2-0 in the knockout stage.
More soccer
Southridge High grad Haley Thomas has moved on from playing women’s college soccer to professional soccer in Iceland.
Thomas has been a starting defender for IBV Vestmannaeyjar this season in the top women’s professional league in Iceland.
Because of the weather, the league begins play in April and ends in September.
IBV is fourth in the standings out of the 10-team league, and has a 5-2-3 record.
Before turning pro, Thomas spent last fall playing for Boston College, where she had transferred after four years at Weber State.
Softball
College Place won the major awards when the 1A South Central Athletic Conference all-conference softball team was announced recently.
Hawks junior Zoe Hardy was named SCAC Player of the Year, while College Place coach Corey Davis earned SCAC Coach of the Year honors.
Joining Hardy on the SCAC first team were three College Place teammates: freshman Adrienne Berube, senior Jordan Holso, and senior Gabriella Sanchez.
Royal had three players listed on the first team: junior Addison Lawrence, junior Madison Sanchez, and sophomore Raegan Wardenaar.
Kiana-Benton had two first-team all-stars in sophomore Jackie Gomez and senior Paige Thompson; and Connell senior Corrigan Niel was also on the first team.
Baseball
Mason Martin (Southridge) has played in 80 games through July 21 for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Triple-A team in Indianapolis.
Martin has seen his batting average dip below .200 — he’s at .196 — but he’s also shown he’s a guy who can hit for power and drive in runs.
The first baseman has 14 home runs and 49 RBIs so far this season.
Caden Kaelber (Chiawana) has had a great year as a pitcher.
The tall, lanky right-hander was named Pac-12 Conference honorable mention this spring as a reliever for Washington State University.
Now, he might be moving forward as a starter.
Kaelber made his debut this past week as a starting pitcher for the Walla Walla Sweets in the summer collegiate West Coast League.
In a 4-3 win over the Springfield Drifters, Kaelber went 7 innings, gave up no runs, scattered five hits, and struck out six batters to pick up the victory.
▪ Walla Walla Community College baseball pitcher Raidyn Steele has signed a letter of intent to pitch next season for Doane University.
Signing
Angela Sullivan (Chiawana), who just completed her sophomore season at Lower Columbia Community College in Longview, will be at Corbin University this fall to play beach volleyball.
Sullivan played both volleyball and softball at LCCC.