Soccer: Cruisers clinch second place, trip to playoffs

The Eatonville High School boys soccer team split its games last week with a 1-0 win over Tenino and a 3-2 loss to Raymond. The Cruisers clinched second place in the 1A Evergreen Conference, however, and are the No. 2 seed in the district playoffs. That is the highest seed the Cruisers have earned in over 20 years.

On April 26, Eatonville played their final matchup against the Tenino Beavers at Beaver Stadium. They had downed the Beavers 3-2 earlier in the season.
This time, it was a real defensive battle with the Cruisers coming away with a win in a 3-0 overtime shootout to claim a 1-0 victory. Kevin Tomyn, Bennet Cole and AJ Lightfoot all scored penalty kicks for Eatonville.

Trentten Cressman led the defense with seven stops, followed by five stops each from Josiah Goode and Victor Peña Moreno. Nathaniel Goode picked up the shutout in goal with 12 saves/blocks.

On Friday, Raymond/South Bend snapped the Cruisers' four-game winning streak with a 3-2 win in an overtime shootout.

Eatonville trailed 2-0 after the first half but quickly rallied and scored two goals in the second half to tie it up at 2. Josiah Goode scored the first goal from midfield followed by another shot and goal from Lightfoot.

The match went into overtime and then shootout overtime. The Cruisers converted three of the five penalty kicks with Tomyn, Riley Rockey and Cressman all converting their shots. Unfortunately, Raymond converted four of its five, which equated to a 3-2 overall victory.

The first-place Montesano Bulldogs gave Eatonville a little help by beating the Elma Eagles, 3-2, which allowed the Cruisers to clinch second place and a trip to the district playoffs.

Next, Eatonville will play one final regular season game today at home before starting the district playoffs where the Cruisers will host the TriCo league No. 3 seed, which will more likely be the Columbia Bruins. That game will be played at 2 p.m. Saturday at Eatonville.