Othello soccer returns to form, beats East Valley in shootout
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald - Othello goalie Jose Gomez celebrates after his game-winning save against East Valley.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald - Othello's Reese Jones reaches out to try and put a touch on the ball against East Valley.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald - Othello forward Frankie Ramos is tackled by an East Valley defender.
OTHELLO — Head coach Bernie Garza pointed to his heart in the post-game huddle.
The same players were on the pitch Saturday afternoon, but the attitude was different from the previous two games. In a chippy 90 minutes, Othello kept its composure and outlasted East Valley in a shootout 2-1.
“We were just playing more relaxed and we can’t do that,” Garza said. “Everybody wants to beat you.”
Othello (1-1, 6-2) dominated possession in the first half, testing the range of East Valley goalie Chris Kirby. Kirby’s height and long arms nixed any corner kick attempts.
A point-blank shot by Jose Andrade was broken up, another attempt by Andrade up front was sent over the goal.
Eventually, the pressure caused a handball on East Valley, which resulted in a penalty kick. Juan Tapia stepped up and calmly knocked in his shot in the 38th minute.
“I don’t know if we deserved that PK or not, but hey, it was a PK and we took it,” Garza said.
After a couple near misses, Paul Cuevas of East Valley scored the equalizer in the 56th minute.
Othello had a prime opportunity to regain the lead, but Tapia’s free kick from just outside the penalty box struck the crossbar. A Golden Goal by the Huskies in double overtime was wiped away by an offsides call.
In the shootout, Othello made four out of five attempts for the win.
Jose Gomez slid to his left and saved a shot by Alex Lopez to keep the shootout even, 1-1. Gomez, this time moving to his right, used his long arms to get a fingertip on Rafael Cuevas’s shot to send it off the post.
“My mindset’s just look at the ball and block it,” Gomez said. “That’s it. That’s all I can say.”
Othello closed the shootout with four straight makes. Tapia, Luis Gomez, Chris Alfaro and Sergio Mondragon kept the pressure on the Red Devils who missed two of their final four.
Toppenish sits alone atop the CWAC with two league wins. However, seven teams are 1-1, including Ephrata and state runner-up Quincy.
“We haven’t lost a game at home and we hope to keep working hard during a game or working hard in practice,” Gomez said. “We practice as we play — a little quote I heard from my football coach. It’s a great win. Hopefully we get the win next week, too.”
Box score
O - Juan Tapia, 38th
EV - Paul Cuevas, 56th
Shootout
Othello — Tapia, Luis Gomez, Alfaro, Mondragon
East Valley — Paul Cuevas, Juan Soto, East Valley No. 20