Wahluke falls to Seton Catholic in state playoffs

ROYAL CITY — Wahluke’s season came to a close on Friday night, after the No. 6 seed Warriors fell to No. 11 Seton Catholic in the second round of the 1A Boys State Soccer Playoffs in Royal City.

Seton Catholic scored two goals in the first half, eventually winning the match 3-0.

“Soccer is always a challenging sport, but being down two on the scoreboard and knowing they were going to have the wind in favor in the second half, we risked it  – we pulled a defender out and tried to push hard on top, but we just couldn’t finish,” Wahluke head coach Cele Lopez said. 

Wahluke came out strong on the attack in the match, even recording a shot on the Cougar net in the first two minutes, but couldn’t convert on a handful of goal-scoring chances.

“We were comfortable at the beginning, we were really confident,” Lopez said. “I think we trained enough and put the tools on the table for the boys to be prepared, but soccer is like that sometimes.”

Part of those struggles were fed by adapting to playing on turf, Lopez said. Wahluke plays most of its games on grass fields.

“It’s hard – we always play on grass, practice on grass, and then coming to play state competition and districts is always on turf, it makes a difference,” Lopez said. “It’s not an excuse, but it makes a difference at the end of the day.”

Seton Catholic scored its first goal in the 15th minute, scoring off of a free kick just outside the penalty area. The Cougars went up 2-0 with another goal in the 33rd minute, scoring off a deflection by the Warrior goalkeeper.

Wahluke had chances to add a goal on a free kick in the first half and a header early in the second half, but both shots narrowly missed.

“We were pushing hard, but we were not in the right position,” Lopez said. “Soccer is like that sometimes; we get there, you do the things that make it look easy, but at the end of the day it’s difficult.”

The Warriors finish the season with a 19-3 overall record, a South Central Athletic Conference league title and an appearance in the SCAC district championship game. Of the 22 players on Wahluke’s roster, 15 will return next spring.

“Hopefully we can learn from the mistakes,” Lopez said. “That we can prepare better. It’s not about just coming to play soccer for three months; hopefully, they keep preparing themselves in the off-season.”

The Warriors will have seven players graduate this spring; seniors Haziel Sandoval, Abraham Prudente, Alessandro Maravilla, Julian Paramo, Juan Barajas, Brian Herrera and Diego Olivares.

“Every senior’s special, every senior’s different, but they did a lot for this program,” Lopez said. “They were committed, and I appreciate all the effort and the time they spend motivating kids. We just finished playing, and instead of taking their time for themselves, they are motivating everyone to come back stronger next year. They’re great people.”

Seton Catholic advanced to play No. 3 Royal on Saturday afternoon, but scores were not available in time for press deadline.

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

Box score

SEC: 2-1 3
WAH: 0-0 0

    Wahluke freshman Icker Lopez (17) looks to get past a Seton Catholic defender during the first half of Friday’s match.
  

    Wahluke junior Leonardo Torres sends the ball upfield against Seton Catholic on Friday evening.