Wahluke defeats Connell

MATTAWA - It has been a so-so year for the Wahluke High soccer team, but the Warriors may have found some answers during their 5-0 conquest of Connell last week, improving to 6-5 on the season.

"We were working on a new set, and we were hoping that it would work," coach Arthur DeVictoria said. "It worked."

But it took a while. Wahluke's first goal was from Miguel Ramirez with an assist from Ramon Bravo in the 37th minute.

The second goal came from Ramon Bravo in the 44th minute, after the halftime break.

The third goal was a penalty kick put in by Julio Maldonado in the 54th minute. The fourth goal came from Bravo in the 66th minute, and he also scored the final goal in the 72nd minute with an assist from Jorge Preciado. It was Bravo's second hat trick this year.

Hopefully this new set is the answer for the Warriors. Until the Connell match, they were having a .500 season in the South Central A Conference.

"We are a young team, with only four returning starters from varsity last year," DeVictoria said. "Three of them are seniors - Jorge Preciado, Miguel Ramirez, and Julio Maldonado. The final player is Ramon Bravo, a Junior."

"There has been quite a lot of pressure put on the shoulders of our Juniors (eight) and Sophomores (six)," DeVictoria added. "As the season goes on, I have seen the team make its transformation from a group of individuals to small groups playing together to finally a team. If the team can continue to work and grow as a team, they may go far into the tournament this year."

These young Warriors could have used an easy start for some seasoning. Instead they got defending district champ Highland in their opener, falling 2-0.

"We made a few errors, and this team punished us for them," DeVictoria said.

Wahluke won two matches, then dropped a 1-0 verdict to Warden. There was a win over Granger, then a surprise 2-1 loss to Kiona-Benton. Hardly any school, least of all Wahluke, loses to Ki-Be.

Wahluke lost to Royal, 2-1, and Highland again, 2-0.

Then things turned. The Warriors defeated Naches, 7-0, before taking out Connell.