Wahluke beats College Place, ties with Granger and Highland

Bob Kirkpatrick/The Sun Tribune - Freshman Ana Andrade records the first of her two goals early in the match.

Bob Kirkpatrick/The Sun Tribune - Junior striker Celeste Lopez rockets this shot past the Hawks keeper in second half action to put the Warriors up 3-0.

by Bob Kirkpatrick Sun Tribune
| October 1, 2017 1:00 AM

Bob Kirkpatrick/The Sun Tribune - Junior striker Celeste Lopez rockets this shot past the Hawks keeper in second half action to put the Warriors up 3-0.

MATTAWA — The Warriors blanked College Place 4-0 at home Sept. 19, battled to a 1-1 tie with Granger Sept. 21, and then saw a match with Highland Sept. 23 end without a goal. The 1A SCAC action moves Wahluke (3-1-2, 3-1) and into a tie with Warden for second in East Conference play and just one game back of leader Kiona-Benton.

Wahluke 4

College Place 0

Wahluke recorded two goals in each half of the match with the Hawks. The first came off the foot of rising star and team leading scorer freshman Ana Andrade at the 27:10 mark. Senior midfielder Tanya Valdenea made it 2-0 with a little over 12 minutes to go before the break.

A through pass from senior forward Jacky Hidalgo to junior striker Celeste Lopez mid-way through the second half of action gave the Warriors a comfortable 3-0 lead. Andrade’s second goal late in the match put a stamp on the contest and sent a message to the rest of the league that Wahluke will be a real force to deal with this season.

“It was a great game for us…the girls are connecting on more passes and creating more opportunities to score,” coach Cele Lopez said. “We were solid on defense led by Noelia Andrade (sweeper) and GK Blanca Gutierrez.”

Wahluke 1

Granger 1

GRANGER — Ana Andrade continued her scoring ways with the lone goal in a non-league match with Granger that was officiated by just one referee.

“It was a physical game with lots of hard contact,” Lopez said. “We created lots of opportunities to score but unfortunately, we couldn’t finish them — it’s hard to control a game just with one ref.”

Wahluke 0

Highland 0

The Warriors and Scots battled to a nil-nil score in a non-league match Saturday, Sept. 23.

“It was an even and entertaining match. Both teams are very young full of freshmen and sophomores,” Lopez said. “Our players were tired after a heavy week.”

Wahluke continued its busy schedule with an all important match with conference leader Ki-Be Tuesday. A win for the Warriors would leapfrog them over the Bears. The results of the fuss were not available at press time.