Moses Lake beats West Valley in a shootout
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake senior Eddie Reyes blocks West Valley Hunter Deluna-Scott’s attempt on the very first shot of Friday night’s shootout at Lions Field. The Chiefs won the match 2-1.
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin HeraldMoses Lake defender Josh Henriquez (5) fights for possession in the box off a corner kick with Kolbein Moore from West Valley. The Chiefs won the match Friday night at Lions Field 2-1 in a shootout.
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake defender Alex Velasquez heads the ball at the midfield during the first half of Friday’s match with West Valley. The Chiefs defeated the Rams in a shootout 2-1.
MOSES LAKE — Eddie Reyes knelt down on the end line away from the noise, away from his teammates. The Moses Lake soccer fans that would eventually break out into the chant, “Eddie, Eddie, Eddie,” respected his time to himself as he prepared for the shootout Friday night at Lions Field.
The Chiefs’ senior goaltender looked on as teammate Daniel Sinchuk beat West Valley goaltender Emmet Andis low and away for the first score of the shootout. Reyes took his place in net, arms extended like a wingspan, eyes leveled on Brandon Rueda, who would take the Rams first shot.
Rueda put a foot on the ball and drove it waist level to the left, Reyes dove hard to his right for the block and the biggest save of the night.
The crowd erupted, “Eddie, Eddie, Eddie.” West Valley missed the next two high and Moses Lake converted two more and the Chiefs finally finished what they started with a 2-1 Columbia Basin Big Nine victory.
Anthony Cortez scored on a header off a big throw-in by Jose Vasquez less than a minute into the match to start it and 89 minutes later Reyes nailed down the victory with the big save.
“The big thing is to stay calm and not try to over-think it,” said Reyes, who finished the night with five saves. “Before the shootout, I go over and meditate, get calm and take it from there. I just try to get my head in the game, because it’s a shootout and it’s on me. As I stood there for the first guy, I looked in his eyes and I knew I needed to go to my right. You get it right, you can win the game.”
For the Chiefs (2-6-1, 1-5-0 CBBN), it was their first conference win, but Moses Lake coach Rian Allred said it was much more.
“We’ve been so close the entire year. We’ve been in every game, so it’s nice to finish what we started,” Allred said. “We set the tone early and had our chances. We’ve had to persevere through a lot of injuries and a lot of challenges this year. We’ve weathered a lot of adversity.
“Eddie played a great game, but he especially shines in shootouts. He’s unflappable.”
The Rams (1-9, 0-6 CBBN) hit back hard after going down 1-nil in the first minute, pushing into the Chiefs zone with a solid transition game at the midfield. But the Chiefs defenders handled the speed of West Valley striker Edgar Ramirez, who twice blew in off the wing for a shot just outside the box. The wind played havoc with a crossing pattern from the south end and eventually swirled into a tail wind for West Valley in the first half. Noah Zepeda showcased his big leg with a goal off a free kick from just inside the midfield line.
The Rams defender hit it with such force it not only smashed into the elbow above a jumping Reyes, it came down hard on the end line for the score, tying the match at 1-1 in the 25th minute. The
Chiefs had a couple of golden opportunities to score in regulation. Cortez streaked in off the right wing and put a shot on goal from 25 yards out that sailed wide in the 64th minute. Again, in the second overtime, Tyrell Garza broke free of the Rams defense and put a big left-footer on net that scooted across the mouth of the goal wide of the far post.
The Chiefs travel to Eisenhower for a key Big Nine match-up on Tuesday.
Score by halves
West Valley 1 0 0 0 0 - 1
Moses Lake 1 0 0 0 3 - 4
Moses Lake - Anthony Cortez, (Jose Vasquez), 1:00
West Valley - Noah Zepeda (free kick), 25:00
Shootout: ML 3, WV 0