Wahluke soccer suffers tough week

MATTAWA — After a torrid three weeks, the Wahluke High School soccer team suffered a bit of snafu on Friday. Their record went from 6-0-2 to 5-1-2.

The stickler was a reversal last Friday of the first SCAC game, won by Wahluke 2-1 against Royal on March 17 in a shootout.

Royal protested a referee’s call during the shootout while the shootout score was 3-2 in favor of Royal. The ref called the Wahluke tender for jumping over his line for Royal’s fourth kick.

Then the ref said the score remained 3-2 because the kicker missed. Wahluke went on to win the shootout 4-3 and the match, 2-1.

Royal coach Jens Jensen protested the call, saying his player should have been awarded a re-kick. League officials agreed with Jensen and ordered the shootout to be replayed at Wahluke from the point of the ref’s call.

The original outcome left Wahluke with a 3-0-1 record, which it raised to 6-0-2 in the next week. After the 17th, Wahluke went on a 3-0-1 streak, tying Chelan, 1-1, toppling Cashmere 3-1, shutting out LaSalle, 2-0 and clipping Warden, 3-0.

On Friday, the re-play started with Royal leading, 3-2, with two shots left for each team in the shootout. Each team made one. Royal won the shootout, 4-3, and won the match 2-1.

Coach Arthur DeVictoria said the ref’s call was correct and that the league’s decision was correct. But that doesn’t erase the disappointment his players felt.

“They feel like a win was taken away from them on a technicality,” DeVictoria said.

On the other hand, the replay may have done the Warriors a favor. They learned that to play to 1-goal victories can be risky. They blown several chances at goals in regular time and two overtimes, outshooting Royal, 13-5.

In the Chelan game, Brandon Anaya scored the lone goal for Wahluke. He converted a corner kick by Tony Espindola.

Against Cashmere, the goals came from Eduardo Valdenea, Nelvy Badillo and Emanuel Hidalgo. Valdenea’s was off a rebound of a free kick. Badillo’s ended a scramble after the Cashmere goalie dropped the ball. Hidalgo converted a Jorge Rincon pass through the middle.

Valdenea and Espindola scored against LaSalle. Espindola’s came on a pass from Luis K. Sanchez on a rebound off the keeper. Valdenea’s came off an assist by Rincon.

In the victory over Warden, which raised Wahluke’s SCAC record to 2-0 at that point, Wahluke got two goals from Valdenea and one from Anaya, all in the second half.

Anaya scored first, in the 49th minute, off a feed from Hidalgo. Valdenea scored off a Jorge Rincon assist in the 55th minute, and Rincon assisted Valdenea again in the 60th minute.

The Warriors play at defending state champ Highland tonight and will be off until April 12.