Huskies survive clipped roster to win in double OT
Huskies survive clipped roster to win in double OT
OTHELLO - A first for the Othello Huskies soccer program would be celebrated in the face of overcoming odd adversity Tuesday night.
The Huskies, short eight players, including three starters, who would not be available for the Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) District Championship game due to academic reasons, found a way to nail down their first ever double league wins under head coach Bernie Garza.
That's because after Othello held on for a 1-0 double overtime win over the visiting Selah Vikings, they could claim both the district and regular season CWAC titles in the same year for the first time since Garza began coaching the Huskies (14-4) almost two decades ago.
Ivan Lopez's strike in the second overtime earned Othello the win which may have been in doubt before kickoff.
Yet to win with such a large number of players missing just this one game, may have made this win even more impressive than if they had accomplished it with a full deck.
Garza said all eight players will be able to suit up in their next game.
"It was a close, close, boring game," Garza said. "We played defensive due to the circumstances. With those eight guys not available to play today, that made us play not the way we're familiar with."
Yet, despite having to focus on shoring up a depleted back line, the Huskies maintained their defensive presence they've held all season, thwarting many Selah runs to the goal and surviving some near misses by the Vikings.
"It was a nice win but it wasn't impressive," Garza said. "We didn't dominate. Overall, they had better chances to score than we did. They had their chances to win it but they didn't take advantage of it."
Othello was also aided by the strong goaltending of Martel Saucedo as the Huskies won the rubber match between the two teams after they split one-goal victories during the course of the regular season.
So with Saucedo protecting the goal with a more insecure defense in front of him the Huskies would look for the counter opportunities that would present themselves.
"I told them to basically just hold them and wait for a mistake," Garza said. "Our offense was still out there but my defense and my midfield was short handed and so we had to mix and match. When you do that you have guys playing in unfamiliar positions."
Lopez wasn't at all lacking any familiarity with the goal as he collected an Enrique Romero pass in the second overtime to put away the winning, golden goal.
"Enrique intercepted the pass and when they attacked him he hit a through ball on the right side to Ivan," Garza said. "He was all by himself to trigger a 2-on-1. Inside the 18 he blasted a shot inside the near post. It looked awkward since the goalie was so out of position and Ivan just blasted it. He scored and started doing back flips and the crowd dog piled on him."
Now as the Huskies prepare for next week's Round of 16 Class 2A home state playoff game against Saturday's Ellensburg-Pullman winner, Garza can embrace this moment as he and his team realized they are truly a sum greater than its parts.
"I told them after the game that we need every one of them and that it was nice that we could put them in there and still defend and be competitive," Garza said. "Usually you put a guy in off the bench and the level goes down. But in a district title to have the luxury to have to do that and still play well, we know we can count on these guys when the state playoffs start."
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