Aggressive Tigers Shut Out Bulldogs, 9-0

PRESCOTT -- The Dayton soccer team struggled to keep up with Waitsburg-Prescott's pace last Wednesday night and the Tigers finished the game on top after a 9-0 shutout.

Both teams started the game with aggressive footwork. The Bulldogs' defense held strong for the first 10 minutes, keeping the Tigers out of the net. But the Dogs were unable to move the ball back out of their terri­tory and to the Tigers' side of the field.

After nearly 20 minutes of battle with the Bulldogs' de­fense, at 20:42, the Tigers swept past the defenders and scored the first goal of the game, bring­ing the score to 1-0, Tigers.

The Tigers continued to take shots at every opportunity, but Bulldog keeper Willie Wep­pler was there to stop at every opportunity, reaching well into double digits with saves.

Defender Carlos Oribo was bumped up from junior varsity for the game and worked hard to prove his worth as a starter, helping keep the ball away from Weppler as much as possible.

The Tigers were back in the box with Weppler as quickly as the ball was reset and at 18:14, they scored again, bringing the score to 2-0, Tigers.

The ball was reset and the Tigers regained control, bring­ing it back to Bulldog territory. At 16:10, an attempt to remove the ball from prime scoring territory caused an accidental goal for the Tigers, bringing the score to 3-0, Tigers. The Tigers wasted no time, scoring again within minutes, bringing the score to 4-0.

The Bulldogs fought back, booting the ball at every oppor­tunity and taking shots as soon as they made their way down the field, forcing the Tigers keeper to stay warm and ready to block shots.

With only five minutes left in the half, the Tigers hit the Bulldog goal again, bringing the score to 5-0 at the half.

When the teams returned to the field after the half, the Bulldogs started to struggle with communication, leaving their areas and with that, open players to move into scoring position.

Two minutes into the second half, the Tigers broke through the Bulldog defense and took a successful shot, bringing the score to 6-0, Tigers. One min­ute later, they shot again and hit the net for another goal.

The Bulldogs fought hard to keep the score down, knock­ing the ball out of bounds and blocking every corner and one penalty kick. But they were unable to hold off two more goals before the game was over, bringing the final score to 9-0, Tigers.

Tigers senior Lino Diaz ended the game with a hat trick under his belt.

Frame said the team came out and worked hard. Frame said he was pleased that the Bulldogs were able to keep the Tigers from scoring for the first 20 minutes of the game.

"I know that we can say we are improving," Frame said. "That was a huge first half for us, going up against WP."

The Dayton soccer team saw a light at the end of the tunnel after a tough loss against Waits­burg Prescott of 9-0 on Wednes­day, Sept. 26, followed by a win against the St. George JV game of 5-0 on Friday, Sept. 28.

Head coach DJ. Frame said the Bulldogs played well against the St. George team.

"Our starters played well enough to allow us to get ev­eryone in the game," Frame said. "Each week the team is improving."