Moses Lake blitzes Walla Walla for victory at home

Chiefs 5 Blue Devils 1

MOSES LAKE — The Walla Walla Blue Devils tied the match at one in the 24th minute of play, but the Moses Lake Chiefs went on to score four unanswered goals to down the Blue Devils 5-1 in Columbia Basin League soccer play Saturday.

Moses Lake opened the scoring in the 14th minute, as Richie Ramirez gained control of a loose ball and fed Mick Aney a pass that Aney knocked in from 6 yards out for the goal.

It was the first of two goals of the day for Aney and for Ramirez, the Chiefs leading goal scorer and biggest offensive threat, a sign of things to come.

After the Blue Devils tied the match at one, Devin Petersen gave Moses Lake the lead back with a goal in the 33rd minute.

Petersen took a through-ball from Ramirez and punched it in from 10 yards to make the score 2-1. It was the second of four assists on the day for Ramirez, who stepped out of his normal role to play the set-up-man for the Moses Lake offense.

"Richie Ramirez showed what a team player he is today," said Moses Lake coach Bill Bertram. "He was in pretty good position to take three or four shots, but chose to dish the ball off. That's how he has grown as a player this season."

In the second half, Moses Lake quickly added to their lead when Seth Bruneel scored just 15 seconds after the opening whistle. Bruneel knocked a shot in from 15 yards away, with Ramirez once again on the assist.

Bruneel hit paydirt again in the 58th minute, this time scoring on a wide-open shot set up by a Ramirez crossing pass.

Mick Aney put an exclamation point on the Chiefs' victory with a goal in the 60th minute, intercepting a Walla Walla pass and catching the Blue Devils' keeper out of position with a shot to the right post from the top of the penalty box.

Defensively, Moses Lake controlled the ball for much of the match. Chiefs' goalkeepers Jeff Erlenmeyer and Mitch Harder combined to stop six Walla Walla shots in the contest.

"Now, we've got Davis and Pasco back-to-back," said Bertram of the two teams sitting atop the CBL standings. "So, we'll see if we can't bring the same intensity to those games."

Moses Lake faces Davis today in a match rescheduled from earlier in the season.

The game will be played at the Central Washington University field in Ellensburg at 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Moses Lake travels to Pasco for their regular-season finale, before begining district play on Thursday.