LEAVENWORTH – Once again, Tonasket’s girls soccer team showed once again it could go toe-to-toe with a high-powered opponent like Cascade.

Unlike their first meeting, when the Tigers upset the Kodiaks at home, Tonasket wasn’t able to pull off the win as Cascade scored a 2-0 victory on Saturday, Oct. 20.

“We played well, but I was particularly impressed with our defense,” said Tonasket coach Darren Collins. “We had a couple of our defenders out, and then Selena Cosino, our lockdown defender, got hurt. The other girls really stepped up.”

In an evenly-played game — Cascade outshot the Tigers 9-8 — Tonasket didn’t get the breaks. One Cascade goal came on a shot off the post that then deflected off goalkeeper Baylie Tyus and into the goal. The second Kodiak goal came off the leg of a Tonasket player whose attempt to block a shot redirected the ball into the goal.

“Neither of them were real quality shots,” Collins said. “But that’s soccer.

“We put pressure on them on both ends, and that’s all you can hope for.”

The Tigers (7-7, 5-7 with 14 points in Caribou Trail League play) host Brewster on Tuesday. A win over the Bears coupled with a Brewster loss to Chelan would enable to the Tigers to host their opening-round district playoff game, which would also likely be against Brewster.

A loss to Brewster would mean the Tigers would play at Brewster, Okanogan or Cascade (10-3, 9-2, 26 points) in their playoff opener.