Even with the various seasons winding down, Tualatin athletes showed their fight until the very last second.
A few Timberwolves squads made the playoffs and played in some pretty tense games. Here’s a look at how the playoffs went for Tualatin across various fall sports:
Girl’s Soccer
The Tualatin girl’s soccer team excelled on defense this year, never giving up more than two goals in any single game and holding their opponent scoreless in 11 of their 16 games this year.
The Timberwolves hosted Roseburg in their first-round playoff game, and Roseburg jumped out to an early 1-0 lead. With about 10 seconds to go in the first half, senior Ava Elizarraraz took a corner kick and placed it right in front of the net, where sophomore Emmery McMillin headed it in to tie the game.
Neither team could score again in regulation, so the game went to two 10-minute overtime periods. Again, things were tight with neither team able to put one in the back of the net. Well, until Elizarraraz launched a shot from more than 20 yards out with 1:11 to go in the second overtime period to give Tualatin the game winner.
“I honestly would prefer it if they scored much earlier than that,” Head Coach Kale Dwight said. “They dig in and they find a way. They don’t panic.”
It’s the kind of goal Dwight and the team have become used to from Elizarraraz, and the kind of goal she expects from herself.
“There were two players, and all I saw was a gap when I got the ball,” she said. “I saw an open space behind me because I checked my shoulder. I took another touch to set myself up and just struck as hard as I could.”
Dwight also had praise for McMillin.
“Emy is one of our all-around best players, and she is one of the few on her whole team that will head the ball,” he said. “She’s got a great shot. She’s one of our two center backs that’s responsible for the fewest goals scored against us in the state of Oregon 6A soccer right now. We trust her wholly with everything.”
In Tualatin’s second round of the playoffs, the Timberwolves played in a rainy game against Grant. After a scoreless first half, Grant took a 1-0 lead a few minutes after the break. Tualatin had some chances to score, but couldn’t convert until there were just under 15 minutes to go in the game.
It was Elizarraraz again stepping up. This time, she banked in a free kick off the far post to tie the game. Again, Tualatin went to overtime in the playoffs. This time, neither team scored, setting up penalty kicks.
Grant won the penalty kicks, 3-2, to pick up the win and advance in the playoffs.
Dwight had plenty of praise for his goalie, Kenley Anderson, throughout the season and the playoffs.
“She’s a sophomore keeper who is just one of the best keepers I’ve seen,” he said. “She times everything perfectly, her dives, her jumps. She’s very commanding to the defense in front of her, lets them know what to do and where to go.”
Football
In a way, the Tualatin football team had been practicing all year for how its first-round playoff game ultimately played out. Coming out of the summer, Head Coach Dom Ferraro said his two potential quarterbacks, senior Owen Hagerman and junior Carter Powers, had played so well that they both deserved a chance to play.
He started out the year giving each player two drives at a time and then switching to the other quarterback. That carried out through most of the season, as each quarterback had their successes.
Eventually, Powers got a knee injury late in the season. So when the Timberwolves trailed Jesuit by 11 with about eight minutes to go and Hagerman left the game with an injury, it wasn’t too unusual for Tualatin to use a new quarterback.
However, this time the ball went to sophomore Lincoln Keeney, who had seen some mop-up time in the fourth quarter of a few blowouts but was not tasked with trying to keep Tualatin’s season alive.
Keeney led a touchdown drive from around midfield, capped off by a 20-yard pass to Calen Simonelic, which Keeney floated in between two defenders. He then completed the two-point conversion on a pass to Cole Newton.
Tualatin’s defense forced a punt, and the Timberwolves got the ball back with 2:18 left in the game. The offense drove to the 22-yard line, and Trent Dearborn drilled a 39-yard field goal to tie the game with 55 seconds to go.
In overtime, Tualatin got the ball first and scored on an Iden Rule rush, but the point after kick was blocked. Jesuit got the ball next and scored, and completed the point after to win the game by one.
Still, Ferrao was impressed by the poise of his sophomore quarterback, although he wasn’t surprised. Keeney is the younger brother of Nolan Keeney, who played quarterback for Tualatin the previous two seasons and was recruited to play for BYU after graduating.
“He’s kind of like Nolan,” Ferraro said. “He’s just a gamer. It’s funny to watch him in practice because sometimes you’re like, he’s got a long way to go. He’s got to keep growing. But then you see him in games and he’s pretty cool under pressure.”
Also cool under pressure was Dearborn, who made his presence felt throughout the game all over the field. The senior was named to All-Three Rivers League First Team as a wide receiver, a safety, and a punter, and was named to the all-league second team as a kicker.
“He’s just developed so nicely as a player and he’s a leader of this team,” Ferraro said. “I’m so happy for him the way that he’s played. He’s been so consistent all year, and that’s how you win football games. It’s through consistency.”
Water Polo
The only other two Tualatin fall teams to reach the postseason were both the boy’s and girl’s water polo teams. Both teams faced off against Barlow in the first round, and both teams dropped their opening-round matchups.
The boy’s team led by one at halftime, but Barlow scored two unanswered goals in the third quarter, including a goal with three seconds to go, to lead by one heading into the fourth.
Barlow added an insurance goal and led by two with five minutes to go. Tualatin’s Caio Cobb Rodrigues and Fisher Tweten both netted scores within 90 seconds of each other to tie the game.
Rodrigues’ second goal of the fourth quarter put Tualatin up one with 2:10 to go.
Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, Barlow scored two goals in the final 1:30 of the game to eke out the playoff win.
On the girl’s side, Barlow jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter, but Tualatin battled back. After goals from Valkyrie Knapp and Carissa Parry, Tualatin trailed 3-2.
The Barlow defense clamped down after that, holding Tualatin scoreless for the next three quarters to win the playoff game, 5-2.
Both teams had quite a bit of success throughout the season. For the boy’s, Ethan Clews finished with the ninth-most points in the state this year with 84. He was followed by three of his teammates in places 10-12, with Thurston Gilchrist next (78 points), and then Kenji Kasubuchi and Fisher Tweten, who both had 77 points.
Kasubuchi’s 61 goals on the year were the sixth-most in the state. Gilchrist, who is the team’s goalie, led the state with 72 assists.
For the girls team, Parry’s 123 points were the third highest in the state this year, as were her 89 goals. Natalie Shepherd had 100 points, placing her sixth in the state, and 59 goals, which was the seventh-most. Shepherd led Tualatin with 41 assists, followed by 34 from Parry. Knapp had 31 assists, good enough for eighth-most in the state.
