Escamilla has first-half hat trick, Warden blasts Kiona-Benton 10-1 

WARDEN — Warden midfielder Ashlyn Yamane followed the through ball into the no man's land between the offensive front line just outside the goalkeeper box 10 minutes into the second half of Thursday night's SCAC East match with Kiona-Benton.

Yamane closed hard from the field and Ki-Be goalkeeper Audrey Hoiland left the net at a dead sprint in a one-on-one battle that had train wreck written all over it. The Cougar senior got there a fraction of a second before the diving goalkeeper and toe poked it hard enough past for the score, before sprawling head first like a slide into second base.

“It was either her or me and I really wanted it,” Yamane said. “Sometimes with those you lift it right into them, but I got just enough of it to push it low, along the ground. I knew I had to get something on it, because she was crawling for it.

“Once I saw it hit the back of the net, it was really good. I was very excited.”

It was billed as the top two teams in the SCAC East, but No. 1 hit the No. 2 Bears like a runaway freight train, winning 10-1.

Two minutes later, Grace Richins sent a corner kick into the box and in the scramble that followed, Yamane turned and put a shot on goal that hit the crossbar and found its way into the net in the 65th minute to make the score 9-nil. Ten minutes later Richins made it an even 10 goals with 13:37 remaining.

“I think determination is what this team is all about,” said Richins, whose team improved to 5-0 overall. “We really want to win. We were great up top, but we really controlled the midfield tonight.

“We were determined to get every ball at the midfield and our main focus was to stay disciplined. We wanted to play our game and get too sloppy.”

The Cougars (5-0, 3-0 SCAC East) went into the game on a four-game winning streak with nine goals combined. On Thursday night, the dam broke and it was an offensive onslaught like no other. Aaliyah Escamilla took the first through ball of the match on the left wing and drove it hard into the box, scoring the first goal of the match 50 seconds in. Aubree Skone made it 2-nil six minutes later. Thirteen minutes later Richins, banged her first goal home and it was on.

“With a game like this, you don't want to develop any bad habits (playing too lax),” Warden coach Hannah Mohs said. “We really worked on our passing. (Ki-Be) had really good defenders and they didn't give up.

“Bailey (Whitney) has been holding the midfield really well this year, and our sweeper right behind her Kasandra Rodriguez deal with the ball in the air so well and know exactly where to put it (to start the transition).”

By the end, Escamilla had a first-half hat trick. Richins scored twice, as did Yamane and Skone. The Cougars out-shot the Bears 22-2 and Cougar goalkeeper Ellie Conahan had just the one save on a light night on the defensive end.

Warden travels to College Place on Tuesday.

Kiona-Benton 0 1 - 0

Warden 6 4 - 10 W - Aaliyah Escamilla W - Aubree Skone W - Grace Richins W - Penalty kick W - Escamilla W - Escamilla W - Skone W - Ashlyn Yamane W - Yamane W - Richins K-B - Lexi Haggins