Tigers Bring Home Two Victories

IRRIGON, ORE. - The WP Tigers showed up ready to beat Irrigon, Ore., last Saturday taking the home team down, 6-2.

"We're playing better," assistant WP coach Jay Potts said.

The Tigers are now, 3-1, in wins and losses this season.

Potts said Irrigon has a good team and this was the Tigers' first time play­ing the Knights. They are scheduled to play again in Prescott on Oct. 20.

The reason the Tigers had the edge last Saturday was because of two return­ers who are now eligible were finally able to play with the team, Potts said. Carlos Sandoval and Jesse Albarran graced the field on Saturday for the first time. Although Potts said they are "not quite in game shape," they were solid contributors.

The other reason the Tigers played so well was because "we were faster and able to keep control of the ball," Potts said. Neither team scored until the Tigers did in the 24th minute of the game despite lots of scoring opportuni­ties, he said.

The star of the day was WP's Lino Diaz who scored three goals against the Knights.

For this senior player, Potts said this great perfor­mance is "typical."

The first goal of the game was scored by fresh­man Luis Garcia in the 24th minute with Ernesto Valdo­vinos assisting. The second score was made by Diaz in the 27th minute with Jonny Escalante assisting. Diaz made the third goal in the 32nd minute, followed by a goal by Irrigon in the 35th minute, bringing the score to 3-1 at halftime.

Fernando Torres scored for WP in the 60th minute with the help of Jesse Al­barran. Albarran scored in the 68th minute, followed by Diaz in the 71st minute with the assistance of Es­calante.

Irrigon scored its second goal against WP's bench in the 76th minute.

Potts said he hopes the team continues to play well as it works to get more players on the field who are overcoming eligibility issues because of not hav­ing enough practice days or not having sports physicals completed.

The Tigers also played the Riverside Christian Crusaders Thursday, Sept. 20 and beat them, 5-3.

WP plays next against Dayton in Dayton Wednes­day, Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m.