By Jim Allen, NWPrepsNow.com
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In weather so cold even the winners sprinted to the bus, Central Valley forward Kelsey Turnbow opted to chill for a moment Tuesday afternoon and talk about mental toughness.
“We told ourselves at the beginning: don’t let the weather affect our game – and we didn’t,” said Turnbow, who scored three goals to help Central Valley to a 6-1 win over Snohomish in a first-round State 4A girls soccer playoff game at Spokane Falls Community College.
The defending state champs quickly warmed to the idea of a return to state, even if their bodies never did in 26-degree weather made even more difficult by a steady 10 mile-per-hour wind.
Said coach Andres Monrroy, “When we got off the bus, I told the girls that we have two obstacles: Snohomish and the weather.”
Most of the players wore winter coats during warmups, but the Bears (17-2) handled both obstacles with ease, advancing to a Saturday quarterfinal match at West Valley of Yakima.
Even Turnbow could have used a warm cap to go with her hat trick, but the Snohomish players seemed even more uncomfortable. After CV’s Megan Dimmler opened the scoring in the fourth minute, Snohomish (13-6-1) equalized six minutes later – before Turnbow gave CV the lead for good just seconds later.
Standing at the top of the 18-yard box with two players behind her, the sophomore turned sharply and delivered a rocket into the right side of the Snohomish net.
The visitors held on for the next 20 minutes, but gave up two goals just before halftime to trail 4-1 at intermission. Turnbow made it 3-1 on an unassisted goal in the 36th minute before Kasey Ames scored in the 39th minute off a feed from Dimmler.
Controlling the midfield throughout the afternoon, the Bears outshot Snohomish 11 to 6 and put the game out of reach early in the second half. Alaine Bates fed Olivia Fielding for a goal in the 51st minute, and Turnbow got her third goal two minutes later thanks to an assist from Katie Van Etten.
“No matter the weather, our style doesn’t change,” Monrroy said. “Play the ball to our feet, control the midfield and get it wide.”
“You saw that today,” Monrroy said.
Since a 2-0 district loss to Mead, the Bears have outscored three playoff opponents (University, Mead and Snohomish) by a combined score of 13-1.
