Tigers’ Magical First Season Ends

PRESCOTT - Saturday's loss to Shoreline Christian left the WP Tigers deflatedfollowing a tough, loser-out quarterfinal game in Prescott. The final score was 2-1. "We're disappointed," said Prescott senior Jose Esquivel. "But they were a very strong team. I think they were the strongest defense we've faced all season."

The Tigers, an undefeated first-year team, progressed toward the championship rounds with confidence but met a rock-hard defense in the determined Shoreline Christian, a seasoned team of players primarily in their third and fourth years of high school - many of whom have gone to state playoffs two or three times in their high school career. A majority of players on the WP team are in 9th and 10th grades. "Shoreline played a great defense," said Tigers head coach Rick Hamilton. But the rival team didn't do badly with offense either. They scored quickly in the first few minutes of Satur­day's

game, "like a World Cup team," Hamilton said. "Then they dropped back and defended their goal the rest of the game with a five-man wall. It's hard to penetrate through that many guys."

Senior Jairo Gonzalez scored WP's only goal dur­ing a penalty shot in the sec­ond half, but the Tigers had already lost heart when the Crusaders slid a second goal by them mid-way through the second half. Several WP players expressed their frus­tration by lying flat on the field or pulling their jerseys up over their heads. "A lot of times it doesn't really matter what sport it is, you can always have the better team, but the team that comes in more mentally prepared will win the game," Hamilton said. Shoreline was mentally ready. They knew it was win or go home, he said. "I'm not saying I didn't prepare my kids, but some­times those lessons are hard to learn," he said. "They felt invincible. They didn't think they could be beat. But they didn't play like we had prac­ticed. I guarantee they'll be prepared next year." The Tigers played fast and hard, making 16 shots on goals versus the Shoreline Crusaders' 4, but Hamilton said their slipping confidencepushed the team into old hab­its that cost them the game. "They didn't pass, they didn't control the ball, they didn't talk to each other," Hamilton said. And by re­sorting

to a fast and frustrated game, the Tigers basically took their leading scorer, Lino Diaz, out of the game, the coach said.

"There was a lot of disap­pointment because they got beat by a team that's not as good as them," Hamilton said. Nevertheless, the Tigers played an unparalleled sea­son, conquering every team in the league on this side of the mountains to reach first place in the state rankings with 18-0 prior to Saturday's game. The Tigers, in their first time out on the field, were the only team in the state for 1B/2B schools to reach the playoffs undefeated. They scored the most points of any team. And they took both the district and regional champi­onships. And they did it all while improving their grades and attitudes toward school both within the team and among their classmates at Prescott and Waitsburg. "I think we did what we set out to do this year," Es­quivel said. "I think next year the team will do what we've done this year and more.

Coach Hamilton said he didn't expect us to get that far in our first year, but we did. And we've encouraged the other kids to join in sports and do better in school. It's not just about soccer."