Behind two second half goals in the span of eight minutes, the Thunderbirds won their third consecutive match on Tuesday by defeating the Tigers 3-2 at Tiger Stadium.
A foul in the box by Centralia allowed for Tumwater to take the lead on a penalty kick goal in the 65th minute, then striker Isaak Djigal delivered the insurance goal in the 73rd minute. It’s also the third straight contest the T-Birds (7-5-2, 6-2 EvCo) have won by a goal.
The Tigers’ Eduardo Ruiz tallied his second goal of the season in the 78th minute, but were unable to come back.
“The pixie dust and the magic of the comeback era is disappearing and we have to be great fron the first minute until the end,” Centralia head coach Noel Vazquez said. “Tumwater is one of the best teams in the EvCo and they showed it tonight.”
Centralia (9-5, 5-3) jumped out in front on Damian Corona’s 17th goal of the spring off a feed from Jacob Silva. Tumwater answered quickly on a goal from Malachi Vuong and went into halftime deadlocked at one.
The Tigers outshot the Thunderbirds 18-8 overall and 12-5 on frame.
“We had a good game overall,” Vazquez said. “I’m proud of the boys.”
Centralia takes on Shelton next while Tumwater heads to Aberdeen, both matches scheduled for Friday.
