Zamora scores four goals, Mavs defeat Cheney

MOSES LAKE — The Mavericks snapped a six-game losing skid with Monday night’s 4-2 win over Cheney, with senior Joshua Zamora leading his squad by scoring all four of Moses Lake’s goals in the win.

“We’ve been dealing with injuries with players throughout the season, so (Monday) we had a gameplan of making sure we touched and moved — that way we can avoid injuries and be ready for the second half of the season,” Moses Lake head coach Miguel Segura said. “That was working for us really well, and all the communication that we were doing was helping a lot.”

Moses Lake opened the game with two goals in the first 15 minutes of action Segura said, but the lead was short-lived — Cheney knotted things up just before the halftime whistle.

“At the beginning it was smooth, everything was going good,” Segura said. “Towards the end of the first half, we went down a little bit.”

With the adjustments made at the break, Moses Lake shut out the Blackhawks in the second half and added two more goals from Zamora, earning a 4-2 win.

“We went into the locker room, we talked, everyone was in,” Segura said. “Everyone had the game plan so we came out, executed the game plan and were able to come up on top.”

Zamora, who had missed a few games due to an injury, was all over the field, Segura said.

“He came out and he was making sure we’re all connecting touches,” Segura said. “Especially in the midfield too, they're out there helping him; defense was also helping feed balls to him and so on. Once we were finding him, and he was laying them off, he was able to receive it again to make sure we were able to score.”

Segura credited the senior’s work ethic for his four-goal performance on Monday night.

“He’s someone who works all game,” Segura said. “He doesn’t like to stand there — he’s moving and making sure he’s into open space, helping defend. There’s times when he comes down all the way, from the forward, all the way from up top and helps out. His work ethic was helping him a lot.”

Segura said the Mavs have been battling injuries over the previous weeks, which led to second-stringers needing to step up into more significant roles. Positive communication in practices has been helping guide along the newer players, he said.

“At practice, everyone trains really hard,” Segura said. “The people that are starting over them, they help them out a lot and encourage them. It’s really awesome to see that, and it shows it once we get out on the field.”

Moses Lake returns to league play with a road match against Eisenhower on Friday at 6 p.m.

“Since all the injuries everyone’s been a little bummed out that we don’t have everyone fit, so hopefully this is going to give them good momentum, especially for the people who aren’t usually starters,” Segura said. “That’s going to be a really big help.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com. 

Box score

CHNY: 2-0 2
MSLK: 2-2 4

    After surrendering two first-half goals, the Moses Lake defense shut out the Blackhawks in the second half of Monday’s win.