Ephrata Tigers shoot down Ellensburg dogs

EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tigers overcame a poor first half of play to send the match into overtime, where they eventually defeated the Ellensburg Bulldogs in a shoot-out to win their CWAC soccer match 3-2.

After 80 minutes of regulation play and another 10 minutes of overtime action, the teams went to the shoot-out to determine a winner. Ephrata, shooting first, made their first two shots to take a 2-1 lead in the shoot-out.

Ellensburg's Andres Ramon then stepped in to shoot, sending a powerful ball to the low-left side of the goal that Ephrata goalkeeper Jaymes Kirkham was able to stop with a hard dive to his right that excited the Ephrata fans in attendance for senior day.

With the Tigers leading 4-2 in the shoot-out and Ellensburg needing a goal to stay alive, Kirkham came up with another save, this one on a high shot toward the center of the net that the Ephrata keeper deflected over the crossbar to clinch the victory for the home team.

"Jaymes came up huge," said Ephrata coach Jennifer Lewis of her goalkeeper, who in addition to the two stops in the shoot-out had 10 saves during the game.

The Tigers scored the first goal of the match in the 22nd minute when Marcos Farias put one into the net to give Ephrata an early lead. It was all Bulldogs for the rest of the first half, as Ellensburg tied the game just three minutes later, and then took the lead with a goal in the 33rd minute.

Ellensburg spent much of the second half guarding their 2-1 lead, but Farias found a way through the Bulldogs' defense to score the equalizer in the 69th minute. With the match now tied, Ellensburg's confidence appeared to fade, and the Tigers' attack grew stronger.

"We got energized," said Lewis of what the game-tying goal did for her team. "You just saw our guys starting to fly forward. We just had a ton of opportunities."

While the Tigers couldn't convert any opportunities into goals, one shot from Farias looked as if it could be a goal. On the play, Farias caught the Ellensburg goalkeeper out of position and fired a ball toward the right corner. The Bulldogs' keeper rushed back toward the ball, spiking it to the ground directly on top of the back line between the posts before flipping the airborne ball away from the net.

Though many fans thought the play was a goal, play continued, setting up the dramatic overtime finish.

With the win over Ellensburg, Ephrata clinched second place in the CWAC North Division, earning the Tigers a home playoff game this Saturday. Start time for the game is yet to be announced.