Huskies defeat Cougars on senior night

OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies (8-5) defended their home field with a 2-0 win over the Warden Cougars (6-7) Thursday. Assistant Coach Kevin Hensley was happy with the Huskies performance.  

“I thought we passed the ball well, it's good to see our defense organized and get the shutout. It's good to get everybody playing time, that was really important for us today, was get everybody some playing time (and we) got to start all of our seniors,” Hensley said.  

The two teams fell into a tug of war for the ball as the Cougars defense gave the Huskies their best. With about five minutes left in the first half, the Huskies scored two goals within a minute of each other to take the lead heading into halftime. The second half was a defensive chess match as neither team could find an opportunity to score, with the Huskies ultimately sealing the win at the end of regulation.  

Despite the loss, Cougars Head Coach Marco Landeros was happy with his team’s effort.  

“We did pretty good,” he said. “I'm happy with my team. (We) competed against a good team. They did what I told them to do, and I feel happy for them. All I want for them is to come play and go home with happiness.” 

Helping the Huskies to the win were Julian Garcia and Andrew Sorenson, both capitalizing off an initial shot on goal that put the ball in close range for a successful follow up shot. With under five minutes left in the first half, the Huskies defense prevented any shots on goal by Warden to take the lead into halftime.  

Hensley said the Cougars provided some challenges defensively but his team responded well to find scoring opportunities later in the first half.  

“Just had to get used to the style of play that they were going with,” he said. “They played with five defenders in the back, and so they were making it really tough for us to get some quality shots on goal, but we just had to keep working at it and just keep taking shots, and eventually good things will happen. We were able to pin them down for most of the match and take some shots.” 

The pace of play slowed in the second half as both defenses dug in their heels and Othello subbed in more players. Othello held the 2-0 lead until time ran out.  

In addition to the win, the Huskies also played their last home game of the regular season which also meant it was senior night. For Hensley and the Othello coaching staff, this night is always bittersweet.  

“It's been a pleasure to coach these guys for the last four years, just to see them and their families and have an opportunity to come out here and represent our school. Just special to be a part of and just a blessing to be their coach,” he said.  

For Luis Farias, it felt great to finally reach senior night.  

“It feels really nice,” Farias said. “I wasn't playing my freshman year, but I came back because I broke my ankle, and I ended up seeing the seniors (from) my freshman year do their senior night, and then I started my sophomore year and junior year and now it's my turn (and that's) crazy. This (came) real quick.”  

The Cougars return to the pitch on Tuesday when they host the Zillah Leopards at 6 p.m. 

The Othello Huskies hit the road for their last two games of the regular season. First was Northwest Christian on April 25; results were not available at press time. From there, they conclude their season at Prosser on Tuesday at 6 p.m. 

As they approach the postseason, the Huskies are focused on getting better every day.  

“Just being able to get better at practice, making sure that we're finding the easy pass and that we're using each other and that we're communicating better, and just being rock solid on defense and (we’ll) see how things turn out for us,” Hensley said.  

BOX SCORE: 

WRDN: 0-0: 0 

OTHL: 2-0: 2 

Huskies Seniors 

Name, Jersey 

Samuel Leal, 6 

Carlos Acevedo, 11 

Carlos Huaracha, 12 

Elijah Vasquez, 13 

Luis Farias, 14 

Critisian Mendoza, 15 

Andrew Sorenson, 17 

Guillermo Chavez, 20 

Leo Camacho, 00 

    The Cougars’ Raylen Heredia (6) headers the ball away from Huskies defender Julian Garcia (10) during their game Thursday.
  

    The Warden Cougars’ Brayan Chavez Garcia (1) boots the ball away from the Huskies attack during their game Thursday.
  

    The Huskies’ Samual Leal (6) intercepts Alfredo Mora’s (18) pass during their game Thursday.