Othello scores last-minute goal for victory

The Lady Huskies continue to dominate

OTHELLO — The Lady Huskies of Othello defeated Toppenish 3-2 Thursday at home.

Late in the second half, the match was all tied up at 2-2.

Donna Franco came on strong late, battling up and down the field, challenging and going after the ball. Her hard work paid off when she battled her way through the pack and passed the ball past Toppenish's last line of defense.

Half a step behind the ball was Othello's Courtney Kirkwood. Kirkwood lengthened her stride to catch the ball with the toe of her boot and sent it sailing into the goal to clinch the win for Othello.

Just prior to Kirkwood's goal, she had broken away from the pack and sent a shot just past the goal.

The first goal of the match was scored by Chantall Guzman on an assist from Kelsey Dockins. Guzman worked hard on both sides of the ball, challenging Toppenish's players and looking to connect with her teammates on passes.

With the score at 1-0 in Othello's favor, the Lady Huskies battled to remain up at the half but were unable to sustain their defense as Toppenish scored near the half-way point of the first half.

Othello ended the first half in a flurry of attempts on the net, with three shots in the last five minutes.

Rachel Mohs found the back of the net first in the second half, with a goal at 34:42 in the second half. She was assisted by Jaque Garza and had a few steps on the nearest defender when the ball hit nylon.

Mohs' goal came, like Kirkwood's, after an attempt on the previous play. The two back-to-back drives were unerringly similar in construction and execution.

Othello continued to attack the goal and found themselves with an opportunity to go up 3-1 but were unable to capitalize on the chance.

Mohs settled in in the backfield, waiting for a pass. When one arrived, she was challenged by a Toppenish player. The ball entered the net in the following melee but after the play it was ruled that Mohs led with her cleats against the Toppenish defense. The ruling negated the goal for Othello.

Toppenish capitalized on Othello's discontent and scored in the 20th minute to tie it up.

Kirkwood's late goal sealed the deal for the Lady Huskies.

Othello finished the match with 26 shots on goal. Kelsey Peterson had two saves in the net for Othello.

"We didn't play to our full potential," said assistant coach Mark Wheaton.