TUMWATER — It had been three years since a girls soccer team from Tumwater High School advanced to the Class 2A state tournament, so some nerves were to be expected.

But it took a little too long for the Thunderbirds to calm those nerves. By then, it was too late.

Tumwater fell behind early and had no remedy for a strong-footed Archbishop Murphy team, losing 6-1 Tuesday night.

The Wildcats drew first blood in the fifth minute, getting a goal from Shelby Koch at point-blank range.

Less than one minute later, Archbishop Murphy senior Brooke Busch lofted a free kick into the upper right corner past freshman goalkeeper Mackenzie Bergquist from 35 yards out, pushing the lead to 2-0.

"We were kind of (like a) deer in the headlights for a lot of it," Tumwater third-year coach Brett Bartlett said. "They got a couple of early ones and we were kind of shocked a little bit."

Archbishop Murphy (20-1) kept the offensive pressure on the Thunderbirds, outshooting Tumwater 12-2 in the first half. Tumwater had trouble generating any kind of push on offense, as Wildcats goalkeeper Anna Whitehouse needed to make a play on only one shot.

"They have a lot of tournament experience," Bartlett said of the Wildcats. "They brought the game to us, and they were really clean today. When we watched them before, they weren't. And we're usually a very clean team and we weren't."

The Wildcats, who average 25 shots on goal per game, added to their lead in the second half when Koch converted on a pair of penalty shots, the second after the Thunderbirds were whistled for a hand ball in the penalty box.

Selesha Harrah scored the lone goal for Tumwater (11-8) in the 76th minute.