Mavericks open season with home victory on the pitch

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks (1-0) returned to the pitch Thursday and took care of business against the Ellensburg Bulldogs with a 3-0 win. Head Coach Miguel Segura was thrilled to see his seniors lead the team to victory.   

“I've seen them since they were freshmen, so it's good to see them out here as seniors now, and just taking everything they've learned through the (last) four years, showing the younger classmen, making sure they come out and improve, not just with them, but as a whole team,” Segura said.   

The Mavs controlled the game in the first half, creating several opportunities for goals. On the flipside, the defense held solid on the other end of the field, not allowing the Bulldogs many opportunities. By halftime, Moses Lake had a 1-0 lead. In the second half, the Mavericks picked up the pace and applied consistent pressure on Ellensburg with their attack. This paid off with MLHS adding two more points before time ran out to secure the win at home.   

The Mavs’ Enrique Landeros led the team in scoring with two goals.   

“He has some of the best footwork (on the team),” Segura said. “His ability to dribble, it's just above everyone's on the team, and so when he's on, he'll put on a good show and help us out a lot.”   

After some back-and-forth to start the first half, Landeros found an opening to score the Mavericks’ first goal of the game with 25 minutes to go. Throughout the rest of the half, MLHS saw several opportunities to make a run and score, but offside calls derailed those chances.  

Though it’s not a major issue for the Mavs, Segura is confident they can tweak their strategy going forward to capitalize on more goal opportunities and avoid offside calls.  

“It's just making sure we time our runs and making sure we (don’t) just make runs out of one person, but we have the other players who can make runs and avoid the offside trap some,” he said.  

In the second half, MLHS spent a lot of time on the attack, putting pressure on the Bulldogs defense. Their aggressive attack paid off as Kevin Segura and Landeros added two more goals to make it 3-0. With nine minutes left in the half, the Mavericks defended the Bulldogs well to hold off any comeback attempts and seal a home win. 

Segura feels confident about the potential his team has, as they roster 13 seniors this season and having started with a victory. Only three players are underclassmen, the rest of the roster being upperclassmen. The talent and experience are not overloaded at one position either; it’s well balanced across the entire field, Segura said.  

“We have a lot of potential, from every single position, from defense, (to) midfield to attackers. We've got a well-rounded team, it's not just one overcrowded position,” Segura said.  

The Mavericks hit the road Saturday to play East Valley at noon Saturday before returning home Tuesday to host the Othello Huskies at 7 p.m. 

As they look to carry this momentum forward into a strong start to their season, Segura said it’s important bring the same energy each game.  

“We just have to keep the same mentality of just going out, trying to dominate, trying to get the ball, trying to keep it and making runs and trying to just outplay them and outwork them,” he said.  

BOX SCORE: 

EBRG: 0-0: 0
MLHS: 1-2: 3 

ROSTER: 

Name, jersey
Jacob Boyll – 00
Dalton Freidig – 0
Jayden Lopez – 1
Henry Pena – 2
Ediel ‘Edie’ Cruz – 3
Kyre Wiltbank – 4
Ledger Archer – 5
Tanner Webb – 6
Kevin Segura – 7
Micah Ribellia – 8
Angel Rodriguez – 9
Enrique Landeros – 10
Julian Mercado – 11
Felipe Rodriguez – 12
Joaquin Cervantes – 13
Andres Solorzano – 14
Josue Romero – 15
Diego Olivares – 16
Edgar Bernal – 17
Filemon Sanchez – 18
Devon Roybal – 19
Braxton Swezey – 20
Joeseph Suprunenko – 23
Joaquin ‘JJ’ Oronia – 24 

    The Mavs’ Braxton Swezey (20) dribbles the ball away from an Ellensburg defender during their game Thursday.
  

    Kevin Segura (7) pursues an Ellensburg player during their game Thursday. Segura scored a goal for the Mavericks in the second half on their way to a victory at home.
  

    The Mavericks’ Edgar Bernal (17) boots the ball back into play during their game against Ellensburg Thursday.