Late free kick lifts Tenino over Forks

Apr. 23—Box Score

At Forks HS

BEAVERS 2, SPARTANS 1

Tenino 1 1 — 2

Forks 0 1 — 1

Scoring Summary

T90 (3') — Kyler Russell (RJ Venesky)

FORK (57') — Team Goal

T90 (79') — Venesky (Free Kick)

A draw seemed inevitable in the final minutes of Tenino's matchup in Forks on Wednesday, but a free kick in the 79th minute off the foot of eighth-grader RJ Venesky gave the Beavers a 2-1 road victory.

It's a win that was a little extra special for Tenino, which lost to Forks 2-0 in their first meeting in March.

"This was one that was circled for us for a while," Tenino coach Lee Baker said. "We've been so close against these good teams, and this was the first time we got over the finish line."

Venesky helped the Beavers get on the board in the third minute, as he notched an assist on a goal from Kyler Russell.

The 1-0 lead held until the 57th minute, when Forks tied the game.

At that point, Baker changed formations and pushed numbers forward, hoping to get the go-ahead goal in the final 20-plus minutes.

The Beavers drew a foul just outside the 18-yard box in the 79th minute, and Venesky stepped up and curled a shot past the wall and into the upper-right corner.

"It was storybook stuff," Baker said. "He's just a high character guy, an all-year player for Black Hills Football Club, he's gonna be the feature of the program (at Tenino). We have all the confidence in the world in him taking all the shooting opportunities. He's just gonna be that guy for us."

Baker also gave praise to his back line, which he said did "the type of dirty work it takes to win these types of games," and he also gave credit to his staff, which consists of assistant coaches Trevor Fetbrandt, Dave Montgomery, and Gabe Steward.

"I truly think that we have the best staff in the league," Baker said. "The preparation, it's a total group effort."

Tenino (3-7, 3-7 1A Evergreen) has now won two of its last three games, and the lone loss came by just one to Montesano earlier in the week.

"We're really close," Baker said. "And I think this is the morale boost the team needed to finish out the stretch of the season."

The Beavers will head to South Bend on Tuesday to face Raymond/South Bend.