Sports

EPHRATA — Ephrata brought in their starting goalie for a shoot-out and Othello brought in a backup.

After it was said and done, the Huskies' Daniel Negrete found the right spot in front of the net to send the Tigers' Kai Hirz' shot back to midfield, setting up Freddy Ramos for the game-winning shot in a sudden death shoot out.

Negrete was saved after Hirz missed high in the first shoot out, forcing both sides to go the distance again. In the third, Othello head coach Bernie Garza relied on statistics to bail either team out.

"I told (Negrete) we were still in it and in the third one, I told him to pick a side and stick with it," Garza said.

But Garza thought the game would never go to over time.

Both sides played a stalemate through the first 38 minutes before Humberto Mendoza found Mauro Chavez for a goal in the 39th minute to put Ephrata up 1-0 at halftime.

Then in the second half, Frankie Navarro found the back of the net on a header, only to have it waved off in the 23rd minute to an offside call. Andy Zepeda followed with a hard shot in the middle of the box that was stopped by a diving Alex Ochoa to keep Ephrata at one goal for the game.

Julio Cerna put pressure on Ephrata goalie Dan Landeck, who was making his first start at the position, with a shot that sailed high. A minute later, Cerna found the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.

"He made some great plays and made some mistakes," Ephrata head coach Ken Murray said about Landeck's performance in the net. Landeck finished the game with eight saves.

Landeck found himself out of position in the first overtime, but Gavyn Sherwood booted the ball out of scoring position to force a second overtime.

In the first shoot-out, Murray switched goalies and Matt Barr opened up with a block, opening the door for the Tigers to take the game, but Hirz' high kick kept Othello alive.

Both teams remained tied in the second shoot-out and after Ephrata's Juan Farias missed off the crossbar and Othello's Jose Martinez' shot was waved off for a stutter step on the goal kick, Ramos got past Barr to end the game.

Ephrata, who moved to 3-4 on the season, lost their second shoot-out of the season. But with Othello being a nonleague matchup, Murray was more concerned about resting a roster nursing injuries.

And with starter Edgar Pichardo day to day with a knee injury, Murray said he is more concerned about the future rather than the present.

"We have another nonleague game on Saturday and we will sit him then," Murray said. "They want to win every game, but at the same time, you have to be intelligent about things like this."