Ephrata Tigers' soccer season recap

EPHRATA – The Ephrata Tigers soccer team ended their Spring 2025 season in the district tournament with a 3-12-1 overall record. 

“I think we’re there,” said Tigers head coach Ivan Garay. “Our record doesn’t show it, but when you know the story of every game you understand that we were in it and that it’s just the things you do in the offseason and how to develop to get us to that next level.” 

The Tigers' goal this season remained the same as every season, which is to play to make it to the state tournament, said Garay. They wanted to prepare themselves as a well-conditioned team that has a multitude of skills and tactics to give them the best chance against competitive teams.

“The best way of putting it is every season you want to be playing on the last day,” said Garay. “You want to try to reach that state championship.” 

He said one thing that they wanted to focus on this season was the ability to adjust themselves depending on the teams they faced.  

“It’s just an all-around preparation to take on hard competition,” said the coach. 

Garay said the team started off the season well as they faced Everett, who was an unfamiliar opponent and lost 0-1. The second game of the season was the very next day where they played Tonasket and lost 0-6. 

“I always feel like there’s that game where everything can go wrong,” said Garay. “That felt like the game for us this season, that everything that could go wrong went wrong.” 

As the season progressed, the team continued to improve and had solid games against some tougher opponents. Their fifth game of the season was against the Othello Huskies, which ended in a tie, and the game immediately following was against the Quincy Jacks, which ended in a 2-1 loss.  

The Tigers also racked up wins against Ellensburg and Selah in the weeks following and pushed the Huskies into overtime in their next meeting. The Huskies earned first in the district, followed by the Jacks in third and Ellensburg finished fourth in the league, meaning that the team had shown consistently throughout the season they can compete with the top teams. 

“We have those good matchups against a team that was able to make it to the state tournament,” said the coach. “I think we were close in matches, we just weren’t able to find that last thing to close out games to help us finish strong and get us those wins.” 

The Tigers entered as the eighth seed in the district tournament, where they faced the fifth-seeded Toppenish. Toppenish would end up coming out on top 4-1 and the Tigers would be eliminated from the tournament. 

“I felt like we were playing them pretty evenly and then we gave up back-to-back penalty kicks on bad little plays,” said Garay. “Just those little bad luck things in postseason play, they haunt you.” 

Garay said the goal next season will once again be set for them to push for making the state tournament. The team will be senior and junior heavy which means there will be a good number of experienced players coming back to the squad next season and even younger players showed a lot of prospects for what they can do for the future of the team. 

“Once again, we’re always going to come out next year wanting and hoping to go as far as we can,” he said. “Will that be easy? No, not at all. We know that’s a tough road, but I have a lot of guys coming back.” 

    Tigers Jason Aleman creates space between the ball and Huskies’ Erick Cruz on the road during the regular season. The Tigers made the playoffs as the number eight seed this season.
  

    Jose Negrete Jr maneuvers around his opponent during the Tigers’ road game against the Othello Huskies this season. Coach Ivan Garay said despite their record, he felt that they played strong throughout the season.
  

    In a home game earlier this season, Avian Soto is seen running down the side of the field. The Tigers will be returning multiple skilled players to their squad next season.
  

    Tigers’ Junior Chavez Mendoza Jr races with the Quincy Jacks’ Jose Garcia for possession of the ball in their seventh game of the season. Coach Ivan Garay said the Tigers are going to continue to push themselves in the offseason to get to the next level.
  

    Tigers’ Fernando Ramirez looks for an opening in their home game against Quincy earlier in the season. One of the main strategies the team worked on this season was adapting to the playstyle of their opponents.