The Timberline boys soccer team closed out the regular season with a 5-1 victory against River Ridge Thursday night, scoring all five of its goals in the first half.
Mike Navarrete netted four goals, including one in the first two minutes and one in the final minute of the first half. Milton Torres Lopez added a penalty kick in the 33rd minute.
River Ridge’s Marco Villa Jr. scored off a corner kick in the 14th minute.
Timberline finishes the regular season with a 8-6-2 record and a 6-3-1 mark in the Puget Sound League, good for third place in the Nisqually Division. River Ridge finishes 0-15-1 and 0-10-0 in PSL play.
Hawks head coach Daniel Arevalo said the first half “defined our season” and said the team couldn’t get back into the game after a pair of mistakes. In the second half, the Hawks inserted a number of underclassmen, of which they had 14 total. Arevalo highlighted Lucas Fife, who started the season on the C-team before moving up to junior varsity midway through the season and played the last two games on varsity.
“He is a player who exemplifies what we are trying to do here. It does not matter where or how you start,” Arevalo said. “With hard work and a positive mindset, we can reach our goals no matter who you are. I was proud of how the freshmen and sophomores competed in that second half. The first time we played the teams in our league, we didn’t score. But we finished the season scoring five games in a row.”
Arevalo took responsibility for the team’s tough season, the second straight winless campaign for River Ridge.
“I take full responsibility for the poor record and am disappointed I couldn’t help the boys get that win they so desperately wanted,” he said. “We knew that this was a long-term project, especially with how young we are. In our league, we had the most freshmen and sophomores, so growing pains were expected. The boys at times showed us that we can play good soccer, compete against teams within our league, and match up talentwise. With hard work this offseason and the right mentality, we will end the streak and compete for much more than just one win.”
River Ridge graduates three seniors: Kai Miranda, Dylan Villana Gonzalez and Ruben Villana-Zamora.
