ROCHESTER — After the first 10 minutes in Rochester on Tuesday, a Rochester goal felt like a matter of when, not if.
The Warriors dominated possession early against Hoquiam, and they generated plenty of chances during the game’s initial moments.
Once the Rochester offense broke through, the Warriors had no issues adding on, and they ran away with a 7-0 victory over Hoquiam to open 1A Evergreen League play.
Lizzie Hoover, the senior forward who Rochester coach Matt Ashton called their “main playmaker,” scored the first two goals in a two-minute span.
Her first goal to open the scoring came in the 14th minute, and in the 16th, she doubled the Rochester advantage off an assist from Harley Frahman.
Just six minutes later, in the 22nd minute, Frahman netted a goal of her own off an assist from Chloe Hess. In the 25th minute, Bella Crawford ripped a shot from the edge of the box that found its way into the back of the net after deflecting off a Hoquiam defender.
In the second half, Hoover scored her third and fourth goals in the 55th and 73rd minutes, and Kyanna Estrada rounded out the scoresheet with a goal in the 76th minute.
Without revealing specifics, Ashton credited a recent formation change that has made the Rochester offense flow better throughout the entirety of the field.
The Warriors made the change after starting 0-2-1, and they’ve since rattled off four straight wins, including Tuesday. Across the winning streak, which also includes wins over Napavine, Aberdeen and Forks, Rochester has outscored its opponents 20-0.
“It's working right now,” Ashton said. “The girls are able to connect, and we’re covering the field better than what we did before … Something just clicked, and the girls are understanding those specific positions that they’re in.”
The Warriors now sit at 4-2-1 overall and 1-0 in league play, and they have their “biggest test of the year” coming up on Thursday.
They’ll face Tenino for the first time since last November, when the Beavers topped Rochester 3-2 in a winner-to-state district tournament game. The winning goal came with less than five minutes to play, and it came when Tenino was playing with just 10 players after a red card.
“It’s going to be a physical game,” Ashton said. “We always play hard against our rival team over there, and I know they do the same. I know they’re gonna be itching to get after us as well.”
