Chiefs pull out narrow win

MOSES LAKE — It was a cold, windy, and bone-chilling night for soccer.

But when it mattered most the Moses Lake Chiefs brought the heat to Lions Field on Tuesday night.

An Adolfo Cortez crossing pass into the Kamiakin six-yard box missed most potential receivers until it found the foot of Devin Petersen who pushed the ball past the goalkeeper for the Chiefs’ only goal in their 1-0 victory.

Cortez’s service into the attacking error may have also thrown off the Kamiakin goalkeeper who appeared to ready himself for a second contact elsewhere until Petersen got  a foot on the ball that ball rolled into the far right side of the goal in the 59th minutes for the game’s only tally.

“It was a good service and it found Devin who is a target man,” Moses Lake coach Bill Bertram said. “It may not have been the prettiest and the wind may have pushed it a bit. Adolfo serves it up real well that’s why I pay him the big money.

For most of the game, both teams saw plenty of the action take place between the 18-yard boxes, despite Moses Lake (3-3, 2-3) settling in early to dictate the tempo.

“We had to play a back-up goalie and had to fill in for some missing starters,” Bertram said. “All we did different was we had to put some non-starters in and we couldn’t go as wide because of that.”

Derrick Gonzales stepped in to play goalkeeper when he normally plays right midfield.

Moses Lake’s first true scoring chance came in the 12th minute when Alex Alcantar beat the Kamiakin central defenders for a one-on-one with the goalkeeper but it was parried away.

“We talked about that with all of our forwards,” Bertram said. “We had five shots in that position one-on-one with the goalie and a free shot and we have got to finish those shots. The chances were there and we will keep working on it. Against better teams we have to finish those or we are dead in the water.”

Ten minutes later, the Chiefs continued to push the ball forward and in the 22nd minute had three chances at an opening score but every attempt was either miss hit or off the mark and the game remained 0-0.

Despite coming in off of a resounding 6-0 win over Hanford on Saturday, the Chiefs still saw their struggles to finish rear its ugly head once again against Kamiakin.

“They are just too eager,” Bertram said. “In traffic they tend to hold the ball too long and get their shots blocked. When it’s one-on-one they’re hurrying it and not working on the position of the ball to get it to goal.”

Gonzales preserved the tie in the 31st minute when he made a diving stop off of a Kamiakin breakaway and shot from 10-yards out at point-blank range.

“It was sweet wasn’t it?” Bertram asked. “It’s all quickness and reflexes. He’s an athletic kid.”

Moses Lake appeared to be ready to score in the dying moments of the first half when the Kamiakin goalkeeper’s mishandling of a ball into the box bounced right to Alcantar who had nothing but net in front of him, but sent his shot wide.

“The ball control pendulum was on our side the whole first half,” Bertram said. “When you have time after time these chances appear you don’t get frustrated you just keep grinding it out and something will happen. And it did.”

Kamiakin forged the first scoring threat of the second half in the 48th minute but failed to convert.

Then came Petersen’s score and the Chiefs would preserve the lead but not before one last scoring opportunity for Kamiakin was thwarted after a frenzy in front of Gonzales who knocked away one of the few balls that threatened to push past the line.

“I couldn’t see it because there was so many guys in front of him,” Bertram said. “Derrick was like a buoy coming out of the water. There was so many guys in front of the net. I was happy seeing that ball come out of there.”

The Chiefs now having won two straight,  continue the regular season Saturday against Southridge at 1 p.m. at Lions Field.

“We’ve got to win these games for sure and then pick off a few upper tier teams to make the playoffs,” Bertram said. “I am not worried right now because we are getting better every week.”

Note: Friday night the Moses Lake soccer program will host the 1st Annual “Battle in the Basin” Alumni match.

The current team will take on past Chiefs players starting at 7 p.m.

Proceeds will benefit the Moses Lake Boys Soccer Boosters.

Admission is $5 per person.

“It should be a great time so we hope people come out and join us for what should be a fun game,” Bertram said.