Othello soccer turns back Ephrata
The Huskies Jorge Campos sends a cross pass to teammate Hector Zurita for what looked like a sure goal in the first half of the match against Ephrata Saturday. His shot attempt blocked on the play, but Othello had little trouble the Tigers.
OTHELLO - Jorge Campos scored his 19th and 20th goal of the season, and added three assists to help lead the Huskies to a 7-2 win over the Tigers Saturday in Othello.
The win wraps up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming district playoffs May 3. The Huskies earned a first round bye and will host a semifinal match against the winner of the No. 3 and No. 6 seed game May 5.
The winner of that match will advance to the district finals and have a guaranteed placement in the state tournament.
"All I can say is ... what a day it was," coach Bernie Garza said. "We started off by honoring the seniors and then honoring their parents and it was all business after that."
Jesse Villareal (Campos) got the Huskies on the board first with a goal at the 2 minute-mark to put Othello up 1-0.
Edwen Alvarez (Campos) made it 2-0 at the 17th minute of action. Campos (Ociel Romero) recorded his first goal two minutes before the half to give Othello a 3-0 lead.
"Ephrata has a very young team and they tried to use the offside trap on us," Garza said. "It obviously it didn't work as our offense got off to a great start as we scored three quick goals by three different players."
It didn't take long for the Huskies to add to their score as Campos (Enrique Romero) found the back of the Tiger box at the 43 minute-mark to put Othello ahead 4-0.
Ociel Romero (Campos) pushed the lead to 5-0 at the 52nd minute of play.
Three minutes later Miguel Penaloza (Ociel Romero) made it 6-0 and the rout was on.
The Huskies added one more score on a penalty kick by Martel Saucedo.
Ephrata's Kyle Phole got the Tigers on the board at the 67 minute-mark to avoid the shutout.
The Tigers got another goal from Dylan Benthem 73 minutes into the match to close the gap to 7-2.
Saucedo had seven saves for Othello.
"Overall, our midfield dominated and our defense was impressive," Garza said. "We were leading 6-0 with 15 minutes to go so I subbed out the entire team and they gave up two goals and only scored one. But it was good experience for them and it gave my guys some rest and less chance of injury."
The victory over Ephrata made it three wins in a row for Othello.
The Huskies turned back Quincy 4-2 April 24, and shutout Selah 5-0 April 26.
Othello is back on the pitch today when the team travels to Ellensburg to match up with the Bulldogs in the last regular season match of the year.