Tigers Beat State Champs

SPOKANE - When asked about Saturday's high­lights in the Tigers' game against Northwest Christian, assistant coach Jay Potts had just five words.

"Ernesto Valdovino and Christian Caro," he said before he went into the many contributions the other players made, and the sweet­ness of the team's first regu­lar season win against last year's state champions.

"We're pretty impressed with ourselves," Potts said about beating the Crusaders at their home field, which he dubbed "a hostile environ­ment."

Forward Valdovino put the Tigers' first goal into the net on a cross from Enrique Balderas in the 19th minute, the only point in the first half. WP found its groove right at the start of the sec­ond 40-minute half, when Rodrigo Gonzalez fired one in on a pass from Ivan Figueroa in the 41st minute.

Just 14 minutes later, it was Figueroa's turn to score on an assist from Valdovino.

The Crusaders, who cata­pulted the Tigers from the playoffs last year, managed to break through the Tigers' defensive shield in the 68th minute, but WP came right back to shut the door on Northwest Christian and make it 5-1 in the 74th min­ute, when Gonzalez drilled it past the Crusaders' goalie on a pass from Figueroa.

For most of the game, the Tigers relied on full­backs Alberto Mendoza and Paul Zamora to stop the Crusaders' inevitable counter attacks after WP's front. As many as eight WP players would launch down the home team's half of the field. They were aided by center back Giovani Gon­zalez and midfielder/sweep Jose Pananigue.

"Those guys (defenders) allowed us a lot of flex­ibility to do really well (up front)," Potts said, though he predicted the Tigers prob­ably won't deploy such a risky strategy in subsequent games.

The synch on the Tigers' defensive fabric was goal­keeper Caro, who logged 11 saves, five of which pre­vented the Crusaders from scoring, including three breakaways that found the keeper one-on-one with his attacker.

"He's doing a tremen­dous job for us," Potts said.

In all, the Tigers had 15 shots on goal against one of the better defenses in their league and despite playing on a hard and fast field on which they overplayed the ball at first.

"We were a little slow getting off the ground," Potts said about the low-scoring first half and the adjustment to the turf-like field. "But after we adjusted, the goals came pouring in."

Playing against a taller, physical team like the Cru­saders was a challenge for the Tigers, who are still waiting for a few of their starters to join the team due to a lag in eligibility. But the WP players stepped up to it, Potts said.

"They were physical with us and we were physical back," he said. "I don't think they expected this. We went out and dominated."

The Tigers won't play the Crusaders again unless and until they meet in the playoffs, Potts said. Last year, the two teams met four times with Northwest Chris­tian winning three of those games.