Wahluke takes down Mabton, falls to Warden
WARDEN — Freshman Ana Andrade matched hat tricks with Warden’s Aaliyah Escamilla, but it was the Cougars coming away with a 5-3 home win over the Warriors Thursday, Oct. 5.
Andrade punched in her first goal of the contest (Jessica Macias) six minutes into the match to give Wahluke the lead. Grace Richins converted a penalty kick at 10 minutes after absorbing a hard foul at the 18-yard box, and the Cougars leveled it 1-1.
The Warriors went back up top, 2-1 three minutes later on Andrade’s (Claudia Olivares) second goal of the fuss.
Aubree Skone evened the match again at two goals each at the 35th minute off a drooped ball from Wahluke’s keeper. The score held up through the break.
Escamilla heated up in the second half of action scoring the first of her three goals off a diagonal cross from defender Melanie Cazares at the 53rd minute, and Warden broke the 2-2 tie.
Wahluke responded with a goal from Jackie Hidalgo with 18 mites left in regulation play.
Back-to-back Escamilla goals off through balls from Skone and Bailey Whitney at the 79 and 80 minute-marks sealed the match for the Cougars.
“Wahluke played with five defenders that clogged the middle, which frustrated my forwards,” Warden coach Hannah Mohs said. “We had to rely a lot on our midfield to play wide. My defense did an amazing job pulling their sole forward offside more times than I could count. These girls have a lot of heart. I’m proud of them. Huge shout out to Aaliyah Escamilla for finishing some gorgeous through balls from her teammates.”
Warrior coach Cele Lopez felt it was anyone’s match going down the wire, but a couple of lapses in the waning minutes sealed Wahluke’s fate.
“With a 3-3 score we lost concentration on defense and in the last five minutes of the match we conceded two goals,” Lopez said. “We had a couple one-on-one chances to level it — unlucky for us we couldn’t finish them. Still I’m proud of my girls — they are working harder than ever.”
Wahluke 5
Mabton 0
MATTAWA — Ana Andrade recorded a hat trick, Jessica Macias and Jacky Hidalgo added a goal each and the Warriors blanked Mabton 5-0 on the pitch Tuesday, Oct. 3. The win snapped a two game skid and got Wahluke back in the thick of it in East Conference play.
“The girls finally started to communicate more,” coach Cele Lopez said. “We had great passing and finishing.”
The fuss was close for the first 40 minutes with Andrade getting the lone goal off an assist from Hidalgo. Lopez was able to make some adjustments during the break and the Warriors opened up the flood gates in the second half, reeling off four unanswered goals.
The first came from Andrade with an assist by Celeste Lopez. Macias converted a penalty kick to push the score to 3-0. She added an assist on a third score from Andrade. Hidalgo put a stamp on the match with the fifth goal of the contest off an Andrade assist.
The win moved Wahluke to 4-3 in the league standings and 4-3-2 overall.