Hall, Hatley help White River hand Fife its first loss, 2-1

The Fife High School girls soccer team lost its first match of the season.

And that’s going to make the final stretch to the 2A South Puget Sound League Mountain division title a little more intriguing.

Annabelle Hall scored her 22nd goal of the season and Alexandra Hatley put the Hornets ahead for good as White River avenged its lone loss of the season with a 2-1 home victory over Fife on Tuesday on senior night.

“We came out relaxed. We had nothing to lose,” White River coach Charlie Carlier said. “Fife had the pressure on them because they haven’t lost a game all season.”

But as long as Fife (12-1-0; 11-1-0 2A SPSL Mountain) doesn’t lose either of its next two matches, it will still clinch the division title. And White River (10-1-2; 9-1-1) can’t lose either of its next two matches if it wants to keep its division title hopes alive.

The Hornets’ lone loss prior to Tuesday was a 2-1 setback to Fife on Sept. 22.

“Whenever you lose to Fife, it kind of stings a little bit,” Carlier said. “It was early in the season, and we were moving players around and trying to get things to look the way we wanted them to.

“I think we’re getting to that point now. We’re just getting better and better as we play.”

Fife’s Sierra Mercardo tied the match in the 18th minute, scoring on a rebound from a corner kick.

Then in the 19th minute, Hatley’s attempted cross with her left foot sailed just over the outstretched arms of Fife goalkeeper Sienna Camp for the go-ahead score.

“I honestly don’t even know,” Hatley said of how the ball found the back of the net. “It kind of ended up being a goal.”

Fife had its chances to tie, none greater than Bella Robertson’s shot on goal that Autumn Nation saved over the crossbar in the 69th minute. Nation had four saves and Ally Glebe had three.

The Trojans had eight shots on goal (four in each half). So did White River.

“Even in the hard times or in stressful times, we don’t get down on each other,” Hall said. “We bring each other up, and we are accountable for everything we do. We win as a team and lose as a team.”

Hall scored the first goal of the match in the eighth minute on an assist from Grace Clapshaw. The junior nearly had her 23rd goal shortly after, but Camp made a one-handed save in the left corner of the goal.

Hall also has a team-high 16 assists this season.

“We haven’t peaked yet,” Carlier said. “But that’s probably good. We’ll peak when it matters. We want to get to the state tournament this year and carry it on as far as we can go. We have what it takes to go all the way this year.”

Orting 1, Steilacoom 0: Hailey Hansen scored three minutes into the second half off a corner kick and that was enough to hand the Sentinels their first 2A SPSL Sound division loss of the season.

Hansen’s shot came from about 30 yards away after the corner kick rolled her way in the middle of the field. And the goal kept a division title hope alive for the Cardinals (10-2-2; 10-1-1 2A SPSL Sound), who have won seven consecutive matches since a 2-1 loss to Steilacoom on Sept. 22.

Steilacoom (11-2-0; 11-1-0) had outscored its league opponents 43-2 entering the match. But it can still clinch the division title if it wins its final two matches or if Orting loses.

This story was originally published October 18, 2016 at 11:21 PM with the headline "Hall, Hatley help White River hand Fife its first loss, 2-1."