Girls soccer report

The last thing Columbia River coach Colleen McKinney told her team before it took the field against Camas on Thursday was to be aggressive.

“Before the game, she said don’t be afraid to attack and get a goal early,” Chieftains co-captain Ellie DiCesara recalled.

That’s exactly what the Chieftains did, taking a lead 10 minutes into the match at Jason Lee Middle School on a goal by Mindy Hunsacker in a match River won 2-0.

“It doesn’t matter when the goal comes,” co-captain Molly Henning said. “But it definitely helped to get an early one. We’ve played with a lead a lot, so we’re pretty comfortable in that situation.”

Leading Camas, though, was something new for Henning and the seven other seniors on this Columbia River team.

It was the first win for Columbia River against Camas since the 2004 season and the first loss of the season for the Papermakers, who entered the week ranked No. 1 in Class 3A girls soccer by the Seattle Times.

“For the seniors, it’s really cool to beat (the Papermakers),” DiCesara said.

“We were pretty confident that we were going to play a good game,” DiCesara, a midfielder, said.

It figured to be a competitive match. While the Papermakers were No. 1 according to the Seattle Times, Columbia River was ranked 10th in the same poll. Additionally, Union — which tied at River last week and hosts Camas on Tuesday — was ranked sixth last week, giving the 3A GSHL a measure of respect even up north.

The match was played in wet conditions on the grass at Jason Lee Middle School, which might have played to the advantage of the Chieftains. River practices and plays its home games on the grass, while Camas is more familiar with the artificial surface at Doc Harris Stadium.

“They get to practice on (artificial) turf and we don’t, so this was an important game for us to win,” McKinney said.

While the home-field advantage was nice on Thursday, River’s captains downplayed the significance of the surface on the result.

“The rain changes the (grass) turf even for us,” Henning said, explaining that both the touch on the ball and the footing on the field are more challenging in wet weather.

4A update

It was an interesting week in the 4A GSHL.

On Tuesday, Mountain View moved into first place by shutting out previously unbeaten Battle Ground. On Friday, the Tigers rediscovered their offense in a 4-1 win over Evergreen, while the Thunder was struck down in overtime at Heritage, losing 3-2 on the second free-kick goal of the game by the Timberwolves’ Amber Myers — a shot from some 40 yards that found the upper corner far post.

At 3-1, Heritage and Battle Ground are tied for first place.

Girls Soccer Report runs each Sunday through the fall season. Coaches with items can report them by e-mail at sports@columbian.com or phone at 360-735-4484.