Remembering '09, Othello returns unwanted favor

OTHELLO — It was a mirror result dressed in different uniforms.

The Othello Huskies fell last year to the Quincy Jacks as they tried to secure a unbeaten regular season record as their campaign wound down.

10-5, 7-5

Last night in Othello, Quincy came to town to play the Huskies having already clinched the Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) North title and stood 13-0 heading into the contest.

Ninety minutes later it was Othello gaining a taste of revenge as they defeated Quincy 3-2 on a last-second goal in overtime.

“A win or a loss didn’t mean anything,” Othello coach Bernie Garza said. “But it gives us confidence for the playoffs. It wasn’t for a league title. It was for pride because we can say we beat the top team. This was big. We’re as good as we thought we were.”

Quincy (13-1, 11-1) came out showing who was boss early, scoring in the third minute off of a J.C. Romero third minute direct kick that shot past the Othello wall and goal keeper Christian Mellin.

“The mistake was we didn’t have enough guys in the wall,” Garza said. “I was not happy that it happened but you learn from your mistakes.”

In the game’s first 20 minutes, Quincy dominated tempo and had the most scoring chances inside the 18-yard box while Othello (10-5, 7-5) was limited to long shots and failed direct play.

Still all Quincy had to show for it was Romero’s tally.

“That was the game plan because they scored two goals right away the first time we played them and lost,” Garza said. “The first 20 minutes we weathered the storm and saw we were doing good and got back in it.”

In the 27th-minute Othello earned a penalty kick when Quincy goalkeeper Cody Beaumont was called for a foul inside his 18-yard box.

Othello’s all-time scoring leader B.G. Guzman put the spot kick past Beaumont and tied the game at 1-1.

The score came after Guzman had moved back to his natural forward position after starting in the midfield.

“If you are the preliminary scorer and never get the ball he’s going to be useless,” Garza said. “So we moved him to midfield to mark Quincy’s better players and give up some scoring. Once we moved him back up front we started getting more shots and ended up with the penalty.”

After the teams entered the locker room still tied at halftime they both came out with a lot more fireworks to show the fans in attendance.

In the 49th minute, Pedro Nunez put the Jacks back up front with a header off of an opposite side header and Quincy led 2-1.

About five minutes later, Othello knotted things up when Guzman broke away down the left side and found an open Ivan Lopez who drilled a shot between Beaumont’s legs and the game was back on.

“We were answering everything they were throwing at us,” Garza said. “It was so quick after they scored we knew we were in it. I told them we could win this game.”

Both teams had chances to score over the last 25 minutes but neither squad could break through and it was on to overtime.

In the first overtime Othello outshot Quincy 3-1 but the score remained 2-2 so it was on to another final five minutes of extra time.

Quincy had a near miss off of a direct kick in the first minute of the second overtime period.

“I didn’t want to go into the shootout,” Garza said. “I didn’t want anyone to say we won by luck.”

A Quincy turnover with less than twenty seconds remaining led to a wide open Guzman  who dribbled 10 yards to beat Beaumont to the right side of the goal as time expired.

Guzman’s winning goal was the 91st of his career.

“It was lightning struck the field,” Garza said. “As soon as B.G. scored his teammates chased him around the field and dog-piled on him. It was great especially for Senior Night.”

Quincy coach Thomas Turner was unavailable for comment.

Connell 3, Warden 0

WARDEN —  It was not the ideal time to have a bad game for the Warden Cougars.

A sluggish start and a defense that allowed three goals for the first time led to Warden’s 3-0 beating and put a dent in Cougars’ post season hopes.

Connell scored off of a direct kick which curled into top left corner of the goal past Warden keeper Martin Aguilar in the fifth minute.

“I think we started slow and sloppy and couldn’t control the ball with the wind,” Warden coach Ed Aguilar said. “They were all over us and we couldn’t do anything.”

Connell struck in the 25th minute with a 30-yard wind-aided strike that bounced past a diving Warden goalkeeper, Martin Aguilar.

Right before halftime, Connell put the final nail in the coffin when a corner kick curled in to the Warden goal with the help of Mother Nature blowing some luck their way.

“It was really where you felt that the kids could do nothing with that,” “When those kind of goals go in with the wind blowing that hard it can go in at any time and at any moment. It’s just a lucky shot. You don’t see those two often.”

Warden tried to come out in the second half to take advantage of the wind but didn’t muster up enough offense with only a six attempts on goal.

“Usually we take more shots than that,” Ed Aguilar said. “We didn’t even get close to the goal. You need to take advantage of the wind in that situation.”

Warden (6-6, 3-3) stands with nine points in the South Central Athletic Conference (East) and in fourth place, one spot out of a potential district playoff spot.

Royal 1, Wahluke 0

ROYAL CITY — Maybe the members of the Royal Knights’ soccer team should all go dressed up like racquetballs next Halloween.

Why not since they showed a great ability to bounce back on Thursday night.

After a disappointing loss to Warden 48 hours earlier the Knights held on to defeat a strong Wahluke side, 1-0, behind an Adam Martinez goal.

“This was a wonderful response to the loss against Warden,” Royal coach Jens Jensen said. “The boys rebounded off of a very unlucky match with a huge win against a very strong Wahluke team.”

A windy beginning to the match slowly calmed but Wahluke’s defense as they pressed and pushed forward to get on the board first.

However, their first strong attempt came off of  25-yard free kick that bounced off the post.

“Generally we tried to survive with the wind in our face and do the best we could to shut down any shot,” Jensen said. “We did generate some attack, and even had a clear goal taken away from a questionable offside flag.”

With the score tied 0-0 at halftime, Royal continued to move the ball away from pressure and tried to return the favor at select moments.

Finally Royal broke through when Martinez got free of his defender and hit a shot that sailed across the face of goal and into the far post.

Tempers began to flare and according to Jensen the game took a five-minute hiatus to calm things down on the field and in the stands.

Once order was restored Royal killed off the last few minutes to secure the win.

Royal is now (10-3, 4-2) and currently are tied with Connell with whom the Knights play for first place of the SCAC East on Saturday.