Tumwater 1, Black Hills 0 (4-3 shootout): T-Birds squeak by on penalties

This is exactly what Tumwater High School girls soccer coach Brett Bartlett expected. It’s what Black Hills coach James Corbin expected, too.

Through 80 minutes and two five-minute overtime periods, the T-Birds and Wolves were scoreless on Tuesday night at Tumwater District Stadium.

“It’s a rivalry game,” Bartlett said. “Every time you play this one, it’s a tight game. I can’t tell you how many times it’s come down to the last minute, or PKs, or overtime.

“We were ready for that. … The kids played hard and did what we asked them to.”

This time, the game was decided on penalty kicks, and the T-Birds escaped in a 4-3 shootout to remain undefeated in Class 2A Evergreen Conference play.

Devon Hess netted the deciding kick in the bottom right corner, and the T-Birds crashed in to celebrate.

“This is a good one for us, because we hadn’t been really put under pressure in a bit,” Bartlett said. “It was good for us to feel that. It was good for us to have to deal with that the entire time.”

Tumwater (11-1, 6-0 2A EvCo) controlled possession the majority of the game, but the Wolves minimized opportunities at clean shots.

“We did create chances, we just didn’t get as many clean ones as we would normally,” Bartlett said.

The six shots the T-Birds did put in the box were corralled in by Black Hills freshman goalkeeper, Devin Herbert.

“She’s been great and she’s got a lot of good swagger,” Corbin said of Herbert, who has allowed one goal or less in 10 of the Wolves 12 games, including five shutouts.

“Goalkeepers need to have that confidence and swagger she has.”

Black Hills (10-2, 5-1) got two looks on the other end, but Tumwater’s freshman goalkeeper, Cassie Mullin, handled those.

“I tend to start yelling louder and louder before they come down the field,” Mullin said. “I get to the point where I know that it’s all on me now.”

That did turn out to be the case. After 80 minutes of regulation and two overtime periods, both squads lined up at midfield for penalties.

Emma Lindsay snuck one past Mullin’s hands on the left side to give Black Hills a 1-0 advantage, but Kayse Smack quickly countered with a bullet that ricocheted off of Herbert’s hands.

Two misses by each team and a save apiece by Mullin and Herbert kept it tied at 1-1.

Jordyn Bender then found the right corner for the Wolves, only to have Stephanie Moore answer on the next shot. Sydney Lowe added another goal for Black Hills, but Bella Foos evened it again.

Rylee Flahaut lined up for the Wolves on the next shot, but Mullin stuck her hands straight up in the middle of the goal to block it. That led to Hess’ decisive score.

This was Mullin’s seventh shutout of the season, and the 10th time she’s allowed one goal or less.

“Towards the end of the game, you just have to put it all out there,” Mullin said. “I just give it everything.”

This story was originally published October 11, 2016 at 10:23 PM with the headline "Tumwater 1, Black Hills 0 (4-3 shootout): T-Birds squeak by on penalties."