WP Cardinals See Success, Bulldogs See Progress

DAYTON - Despite two back-to-back losses against Yakima's Riverside Christian, the Dayton Bulldogs believed they made progress as a team against a tough opponent.

The WP Tigers meanwhile easily outmaneuvered and outscored Oregon-based Trout Lake to remain undefeated since tying with Spokane's St. George earlier in the season.

Riverside Christian beat Dayton 5-0 Tuesday night, the same margin of victory they took away during the two team's first encounter of the season in Yakima Saturday that resulted in the same score.

Head coach DJ Frame said the two games were markedly different, showing a much more assertive Dayton team during the second game at home compared to the game over the weekend.

"I'm extremely proud of how they played," Frame said. "Riverside is definitely a quality team and the Bulldogs never dropped down (their effort) no matter what was happening."

Riverside scored early with a header from a corner kick barely 5 minutes into the first half. It looked like Dayton would respond almost right away when forward Courtney Fuller took a run and shot on goal, followed by similar attempts from striker Adam Strohbehn, who came close to scoring several times.

With 17 minutes to go in the half, Riverside scored again and Dayton stepped up the pressure once more without breaking through the other team's defenses before the end of the period.

At the start of the second half, Dayton got lucky twice in a row when one Riverside shot hit the right post and another shortly after that barely missed the crossbar above goalie Willie Weppler's head.

Weppler registered several more deft saves before grappling with a hard strike that was just too hot to handle and landed Riverside its third goal, followed about six minutes later by goal no. 4 from a hard shot in the right side of the goal.

It looked as though Riverside was going to score again when a Dayton foul generated a penalty kick. But Weppler kept it out to the delight of the home crowd, which braved a cool windy evening to support the home team.

Riverside's final goal came from a strike that landed hard high left in Weppler goal. The final score was 5-0.

"We were in this closer than the score shows," Frame said. "It was the same score Saturday, but we played in front of our net that whole game."

Frame said his team did a much better job positioning, moving around the field and communicating with one another for passes and defense. "It's coming together," he said.

It came together quite nicely for the Tigers on Saturday. WP won 8-0 against Trout Lake, with goals coming from Lino Diaz, Francisco Gonzalez, Aldair Escalante and Luis Torres.

"It's going really good for the team," said senior Omar Virgen, who watched from the bleachers during the game, recovering from an injury sustained during the summer. "We pretty much have control."

Trout Lake never really threatened the Tigers even when they had a an opportunity to score on a penalty kick and missed high wide right with 6:30 to go in the second half.

Despite the high score, head coach Mark Grimm said he sees room for improvement. "We are a young team, losing seven starters from last year's squad," he said, referring to four graduating seniors and three juniors who have moved out of the district or are ineligible to play. "The team is working hard to improve."

"I'm very pleased with our effort and intensity," he said.

WP hosts WWVA at 4 p.m. at home Wednesday, and Riverside Christian at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Dayton hosts Riverside Christian again on Friday, Oct. 7 at 6 p.m.