Wahluke advances in the 1A state tourney

MATTAWA — The Wahluke Warriors (11-5-1) defeated Eastside Preparatory 2-0 in the opening round of the 1A state tournament Tuesday. Head Coach Cele Lopez was proud of how his team showed up.  

“(They had a) different intensity,” he said. “I always believe that we're capable of doing whatever we setup as the goal, and they showed it today, they showed the hunger, they showed the intensity.” 

The Warriors played balanced soccer in the first half while also playing against the wind. While they managed to push the ball on the attack, it took them a while to find shot opportunities. However, they earned their first goal in the final minutes of the first half. From there, they carried their momentum into the second half, now with the wind to their backs on offense. They added one more goal while they held Eastside scoreless, which sealed the win.  

“I saw it yesterday in practice, and I was excited about seeing a practice like yesterday, because normally when you practice with that energy you bring it to the game, and everybody looked comfortable yesterday, everybody was gritty, so you can see it reflected today in the game, it was a really good game for us,” Lopez said.  

Wind gusts in Mattawa were around 16 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service. Oddly enough, these were the conditions Lopez was hoping for coming into this game, he said.  

“We have wind every day, so we practice every day like this. In the morning, it was calm, and I'm like, ‘Man, hopefully we have wind,’ and we got the wind. I think it's a big advantage for us, the teams from the other side of the mountain aren’t used to this and I think the wind played in our favor,” he said.  

After competing in a back-and-forth affair, a corner kick by Icker Lopez set up a header scored by Ethan Moreno in the final minutes of the first half, which gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead heading into the break.  

“As we've been playing, we've been actually connecting on that play a few times now, and it's working pretty good. The boys feel more comfortable now following positions and following roles, and you can see it on plays like that,” said the coach.  

With the wind to their backs in the second half, the Warriors kept the pressure up with their attack. On multiple occasions they had close calls with shots on goal that could’ve increased their lead. However, Icker eventually capitalized on an opening and drilled the teams second goal of the game with about eight minutes to go. 

From there, Wahluke held Eastside Prep scoreless as they ran out the clock for the win to advance to the second round of the state tournament. They will travel to the Apple Bowl in Wenatchee to play the top-seeded Cascade on Friday at 1 p.m. While some may write the Warriors off, Coach Lopez feels confident in his teams ability to compete.  

“We have nothing to lose, we're 16, we're going to go try to give them a challenge. We played here in a friendly (match), and it was actually a close game, we made a couple mistakes on defense that cost us really bad on first half, but after that it was a close game,” he said.  

BOX SCORE: 

EPRP: 0-0: 0 

WHLK: 1-1: 2

    The Wahluke Warriors’ Ethan Moreno (10) taps the ball down during their game Tuesday. Moreno scored off a header in the first half.
  

    Alan Arroyo cuts to his right while on the attack for the Wahluke Warriors Tuesday.
  

    Omar Rodriguez (18) makes a defensive stop against an Eastside Prep player during their state tournament game Tuesday.
  

    Icker Lopez (17) muscles past an Eastside Prep defender for control of the ball.