Another blow Moses Lake soccer

by Brad Redford<br>Herald Sports Writer
| April 7, 2004 9:00 PM

The breaks will come, at least that is the hope Moses Lake head coach Jason Green is resting on.

The Walla Walla Blue Devils boys soccer team handed the Chiefs its 10th straight loss of the season. For Moses Lake, they were left to regroup and rethink the way they are going to win a soccer game.

"Their concern is they are staying in one place and not moving around and switching positions and that is fine, but we need to work on getting the ball in the net," Green said.

Moses Lake currently sits 0-4 in the Big Nine with six games remaining in the regular season. After another close loss, the Chiefs fell short.

Walla Walla barely outshot the Chiefs 18-13, Moses Lake had more saves, 14-5, but the Blue Devils scored in better situations by utilizing the open field they created for themselves.

Green said, "we have mental lapses."

Shawn Goicoechea accidentally knocked in the first goal of the game for Walla Walla on a corner kick. Goicoechea tried to clear the ball from the goalie box on a rebound shot, but missed the ball off the side of his foot.

Goicoechea came close to redeeming himself a minute later, but missed high from the right corner of the goal box.

Walla Walla scored its second goal of the night after a Blue Devil passed the ball across the goal box to a streaking teammate, who knocked the ball in, handing Walla Walla a 2-0 lead with 28:20 left in the first half.

David Smedley's header into the goal with 25:11 on the clock was wiped off after the goalie for Walla Walla pushed a Moses Lake player out of the way during a throw in, resulting in a penalty kick. Corbin Earl knocked the penalty kick in for the Chiefs, closing the Blue Devil gap to 2-1.

Victor Regalado scored one last time for the Blue Devils in the first half with under two minutes remaining on the clock. Regalado was able to push the ball through Moses Lake traffic and slice the ball in for a 3-1 lead.

Even with a 3-1 deficit, Green didn't count him, nor the Chiefs out of the game. He said Moses Lake played like the better team, but couldn't get points on the board to match that performance.

"We knew we were the better team and we knew we could overcome it," Green added.

Moses Lake was relentless in its pursuit of victory at the start of the second half, resulting in an Earl/Smedley combination for the Chiefs' second goal of the game.

Smedley was able to handle the flip-throw from Earl from the sideline to score in traffic.

"He will usually get some body part on every ball," Green said of Smedley. "They call him Gumby and there is a reason for that. He will get a foot or head on every ball coming his direction."

The chase continued and Walla Walla made every attempt to keep Moses Lake from attacking the goal in the remaining 15 minutes of the game.

Regalado ended the pursuit with another goal through traffic, eliminating any Moses Lake tie in the second half.

Moses Lake's loss still proved to be a better outcome than the beginning of the season, but haven't been able to shut down a team defensively and put up the goals offensively to take command of a game.

"We know the things we are doing wrong and we keep on emphasizing that we have to make things happen," Green added.