Wahluke holds off Royal on Knights home turf
ROYAL CITY — Wahluke got two scores from freshman Ana Andrade and an own goal by Royal, and the Warriors got past the Knights 3-2 on the pitch at David Nielsen Stadium Thursday night.
“The key to the win was the intensity of the ladies,” Wahluke coach Cele Lopez said. “We had a bad opener at home against Warden (5-1 loss) Tuesday. We made a lot of mistakes but they really stepped it up today. Ana was amazing. She works harder than everyone else — is the first one on the field and the last one to leave.”
The Warriors opened the scoring 14 minutes into the fuss on an Andrade corner kick.
“Our near post defender allowed the ball to bounce between her and the post,” Knights coach Jens Jensen said. “Our goalkeeper was in a good position, but was unable to scoop it up and it bounced off her leg and away from the goal toward the far post.”
Royal had an opportunity to level the match a couple minutes later, but wasn’t able to convert.
“The referee awarded us a PK due to a Wahluke handball in the box,” Jensen said. “Unfortunately we had the PK attempt saved.”
The teams exchanged possessions and played tough defense throughout the remained of the first half and the Warriors held on to a slim 1-0 lead at the break.
Andrade’s second score of the contest came at the 53rd minute to give the visitors a little breathing room.
“It was a nice goal,” Jensen said. “The Wahluke attacker came inside from the left onto her right foot and beat our keeper with a curled shot to the far post.”
The Knights answered back with a goal by Noelia Juarez a couple minutes later to close the gap to 2-1. Royal leveled it 2-2 with just under nine minutes to play.
“Noelia worked extremely hard up top and finally got a goal — our first — by out hustling several Wahluke defenders and the goalkeeper,” Jensen said. “We had a second PK awarded from a foul in the penalty area and on this one Chenoa Louie made no mistake and buried it in the corner.”
Wahluke went back up top 3-2 at the 77th minute.
“The goal came from the corner again (Andrade) – played to the far post,” Jensen said. “Unfortunately, our player on that post reacted badly to the ball and turned it into our own net.”
The Knights had a chance to tie it in stoppage time on a one-on-one play with the Warrior keeper and send the match to overtime, but the ball played across the front of goal.
“Our girl simply missed the ball — it happens,” Jensen said.
Andrade, who has only been playing soccer for two years, was happy with her performance but said she doesn’t deserve all the credit.
“My team helped me out a lot — I do everything for my coach.”
Wahluke 2
Mabton 0
Wahluke traveled to Mabton Monday for a makeup match that was postponed Sept. 7 due to poor air quality from area fires and came away with a 2-nil win. The Warriors recorded goals from Ana Andrade and Claudia Olivares (Celeste Lopez). Keeper Blanca Gutierrez had four saves.
Wahluke hosted College Place and Royal was at Kiona-Benton on Tuesday, but the results of the matches were not available at press time.