Late goal sinks Chiefs soccer

MOSES LAKE - For two straight games, the Moses Lake Chiefs soccer team has put itself in position to pull out a win.

On Tuesday night at Larson Field it was the second consecutive late goal that sent them to defeat.

This time it was against the Wenatchee Panthers in the Big 9 opener as the Chiefs dropped a 2-1 decision on a late goal from their guests.

"It just goes to depth at the end of the game," Moses Lake head coach Bill Bertram said of his team's second straight loss conceded in the waning minutes. "We have some kids hurt or sick still and I don't have enough depth on the bench to fill those holes. It would be good to play a whole match with a good, solid, lineup and not have to patching so many holes."

Wenatchee scored first in the game's ninth minute to take the lead in what would become a chippy contest at times.

After a few more minutes, Moses Lake (1-2-1, 0-1) settled in and began to take majority control of the ball.

"I think we had the better of it in terms of possession other than the first 15 minutes of the game," Bertram said. "We controlled it from there. We had eight or nine shots in the second half and we kept pressuring them."

Moses Lake would even the game up at 1-1 when Derrick Gonzales scored off of Adolfo Cortez's short corner pass, when he rocketed in a shot from 12 yards out.

In the second half, Moses Lake continued to dominate the pace and would outshoot the Panthers where they would end up with a 13-8 advantage by the end of regulation.

Yet, despite their advantage offensively, it was the defense that leaked enough for Wenatchee to find a way to win.

The Panthers would score in the 75th minute off of a defensive misplay in the back, leaving Chiefs goaltender Luis Villa alone and unable to thwart the attack.

"We had one of our central defenders who misplayed the ball," Bertram said. "He went one way, the ball went the other, and the shot went wide of a diving Luis."

Despite the loss, Bertram sees potential in his charges as long as they continue to progress physically and mentally.

"Our team is still battling," Bertram said. "We are not as deep as we like and we are filling some gaps where we can. We are dealing with some youth, maturity, and leadership issues. By midseason hopefully we would have hit out stride and won't have to deal with those issues anymore."