The hugely-successful White River High soccer team advanced to the Elite Eight in the Class 2A state tournament, but that’s where the road ended.

Playing the evening of Nov. 16 on their home turf of Arrow Lumber Stadium, the Hornets were blanked 3-0 by Hockinson High.

The defeat brought an end to a stellar season for the Hornets. The squad finished 18-1-2 for the season after going 11-0-1 and winning the SPSL’s East Division then sweeping the league and district’s tournaments.

In the Final Four, Hockinson will take on neighboring Ridgefield High; the other semifinal pairing features Central Washington teams from Columbia River and Selah. Both Friday games will take place at Shoreline Stadium; the winners will play the following day, also at Shoreline, for the Class 2A title.

The Hornets had advanced from the initial Class 2A Sweet 16 with a first-round victory over Ellensburg High of the Central Washington Athletic Conference.

The game – played on the White River campus – featured a scoreless first half in which White River spent most of the 40 minutes in their offensive end. The Bulldog goalkeeper guessed correctly on a Hornet penalty kick by diving to the right and smothering the ball and was credited with several other saves as well.

With dense fog enveloping the stadium during the second half, White River finally scored the game’s only goal. It came in the 64th minute of play, scored by Morgan Greene off an assist by Madison Ryneski.

Katelyn Kelley went the distance in goal to preserve the shutout for the Hornets.