The Walla Walla Community College men’s soccer team took on the Wenatchee Valley Knights in a hard fought game that was ultimately won by the Warriors by a score of 3-2.
The Warriors started off quick with two good chances to score within the first five minuets of the game.
They finally got their goal in the ninth minute as Jose Peralta got into a wide position on the right wing and delivered a pass across to an unmarked Kevin Meraz-Rodriguez who then nailed a goal from 15 yards out to give the Warriors an early 1-0 lead.
Wenatchee caught Walla Walla on a counter attack to tie up the game at 1-1 in the 18th minute.
After a fast start the match slowed down a bit as Walla Walla had more of the better chances.
The best chance for Walla Walla to regain the lead came with a quick combination between Jose Peralta and Freddy Rodriguez that found Andres Arroyo in the box but didn’t capitalize on the opportunity as his shot sailed over the crossbar.
Wenatchee took the lead five minutes into the second half.
Walla Walla created 3-4 quality chances in the next 20 minutes to even up the score including a Edwin Romero bender that was knocked away by the Wenatchee goalkeeper and a Kevin Meraz-Rodriguez header from six yards out hit the goalkeeper.
The equalizer came in dramatic fashion when Johan Martinez served a ball into the box only for the Wenatchee goalkeeper to make a mistake and watch the ball roll into the back of the net.
Minutes later, Freddy Rodriguez was able to get behind the Wenatchee back line and made the most of the opportunity and put the ball off the inside of the post for his first goal of the season and winning the match for the Warriors.
“It was definitely an interesting day.” Warriors coach Ben Rotert said. “I was excited how we started the match. To create good chances early and get a goal within 10 minutes sets a good standard for the rest of the match.”
“We still need to work on playing level headed the whole 90 minutes. We go through waves of good and bad within a match so that will be our goal next match is to try and stay as consistent as possible.”
“I was proud of the boys battling until the end and making the most of our chances late in the match. Credit to Wenatchee, they played us and always give us a game.”
The Warriors are on the road in their next match on Wednesday at Treasure Valley, that game starts at 1:15 p.m.
Their next home game is Saturday, Sept. 15 against Blue Mountain and that match starts at 2:15 p.m.
