Othello boys win opener against Naches Valley with offensive showcase
OTHELLO — The Huskies scored their first goal of the 2017 season two minutes into Saturday’s match with Naches Valley and showcased a little offense in a one-sided 8-0 victory.
The strikers had it going, burying six of the 26 shots on goal. Seniors Frankie Ramos and Reese Jones had two goals apiece. Sophomore Juan Tapia came through with a couple more for the Huskies (1-0), which scored four goals in both halves.
“Our attack is definitely better than last year,” said Ramos, who scored a goal in the first 10 minutes of both halves. “We probably won’t score like this (once we get into the Central Washington Athletic Conference schedule), but the attack and the transition is better. I think you’ll see a difference.”
Ramos beat Naches Valley starting goaltender Brian Andrade with a sharp shot low and away at the 32:22 mark, then beat replacement Hector Tapia on a penalty kick to start the second half. Othello scored at will in the first half. Luis Gomez found the net two minutes into the match, Ramos (8:22), Tapia (14:21) and Jones (26:14) followed suit.
“Soccer is about patterns, getting the ball to the center-mid, give it to the corner, cross and score. For the most part, that’s what we did,” Husky coach Bernie Garza said. “We executed our corner kicks. We finished on two penalty kicks. We practice finishing on PK’s and we had a chance to do that today. That’s going to go a long ways when we get into conference, so today was nice preparation.”
The goal of the game came at the end of the first half when Ramos pounded a rocket off the crossbar. It ricocheted right back into the box. But instead of getting caught flat footed, Jones ripped a left-footed, one-timer back past Andrade, who was still trying to relocate the ball. Jones punctuated his first goal of 2017 with a front flip running down the midfield.
“We were working the ball around, everybody was unselfish today,” Tapia said. “We have a way better attack than last year. Last year we had a really good defense and struggled to score. But now we’re more balanced.”
Chris Alfaro scored the final goal of the day in a free kick. Husky goaltender George Navarrete finished the day with four saves for the Huskies, who host Ellensburg on Tuesday.
Score by halves
Naches Valley 0 0 - 0
Othello 4 4 - 8
Scoring summary
O - Luis Gomez, 2:00
O - Frankie Ramos, 8:00
O - Juan Tapia, 14:26
O - Reese Jones, 26:14
O - Ramos (penalty kick), 45:37
O - Jones, 64:49
O - Tapia, 61:03
O - Chris Alfaro (penalty kick) 77:12