PORT ANGELES — The Forks Spartans boys soccer team didn’t let up this time against La Center.
In a game it needed to win to keep its district title hopes alive, Forks scored two early goals then kept the Wildcats from sniffing a comeback attempt, winning Friday’s Southwest Washington League showdown 2-0.
It was the Spartans’ eighth straight victory, with their last defeat coming when they surrendered a two-goal halftime lead to La Center, losing 4-3 in early April.
“They knew how important this game was,” Forks (13-3 in league and overall) coach Brian Bowers said. “And they rose to the level.
“We out-played them and we out-hustled them, and their coach was pretty sure of that too by the time I talked to him at the end of the game.”
The Spartans’ reward: a rematch with La Center (13-3) in Montesano on Monday night.
The winner receives an automatic Class 1A state tournament berth and a shot at SWL champion Columbia (White Salmon) for the district title. The loser must play Stevenson for the district’s third and final state berth.
“I’m excited,” Forks senior Tyler Kerschner said. “I want to beat [La Center] again. And we can do it now, no question.”
If Kerschner, a first-year varsity contributor, continues to play like he has of late, he might be right.
The fleet-footed striker got the Spartans on the board to begin with, netting a goal in the 10th minute off a Wilson Avila-Luna feed.
“[Avila-Luna] just pushed it through in between the defenders, I made a break on it, and all I had to do was kick it around the goalie,” said Kerschner of his 12th goal this season.
Forks kept the pressure on after that with much of the play on the Wildcats’ half of the field.
The persistence paid off in the 35th minute, when Cristion Molina took an inbounds from Sean Weekes, wheeled around a defender and fired off a shot from the corner of the penalty box.
Avila-Luna, screening the La Center goalkeeper in front of the near post, jumped over ball at the final moment to let it slip inside the post for a goal.
While it wasn’t an official assist, there was no denying Avila-Luna’s impact on the play.
“I knew one guy was behind me, so I knew I had to pass him,” Molina said of his goal. “When I passed that guy, I just kicked it.
“I didn’t think I was going to score when I saw that Wilson was [in front], but I scored.
“That was great.”
The Spartans refused to get complacent in the second half either, their late-game collapse at La Center in the back of many of the players’ minds.
“That’s all we talked about at halftime,” Kerschner said.
“We said the score was 0-0, and that we’ve let them comeback before and it wasn’t happening this time. We couldn’t afford to do it.”
La Center managed a handful shots on goal — Forks outshot the Wildcats 12-8 — but had few opportunities inside the penalty box.
In fact, it was the Spartans who had the best scoring chance late in the game after Kerschner drew a foul on the keeper in the box.
With Avila-Luna out of the game due to leg cramps, Molina was tabbed for the penalty kick.
Yet the freshman’s shot went just wide of the left post. Not that it mattered.
Only a few minutes later, keeper Carlos Bernabe and the rest of the Spartan defense earned their sixth shutout win of the season.
“I’ve said it before, that 2-0 lead is a hard one to keep my team from letting up,” Bowers said.
“But they did that today. They didn’t let up. They played hard the whole game. That’s why we won.”
Forks 2, La Center 0
La Center 0 0 — 0
Forks 0 2 — 2
Scoring Summary
First half: 1, Forks, Kerschner (Avila-Luna), 10th minute. 2, Forks, Molina, 35th minute.
Second Half: No scoring.
Shots on goal: Forks 12, La Center 8
