Tigers Can’t Stop St. George

PRESCOTT - If Friday's game against the St. George Dragons is any indication of the Tigers' playoff chanc­es, the team has made improvements. But the 2-0 loss against the powerful opponent from Spokane also means WP isn't quite there yet.

"They were the better team Friday," assistant coach Jay Potts said. "But we have more talent and need to get better results. We played really well."

Potts said the Tigers, playing at home, controlled the game for most of its duration. At the half, the game was a scoreless standoff. "It was a back and forth for a long time - two good teams going after each other."

The Tigers' defense was able to stop the Dragons' onslaught until about half way through the second half, when St. George scored in the 60th minute. A St. George forward played smartly around the WP defense and got off a nice clean shot.

The deficit forced the Tigers to step up their offense, moving more players forward. That in turn made them more vulnerable against a St. George coun­terattack, which came about eight min­utes later. St. George took advantage of a WP defensive miscue and generated the Dragons' second and final goal.

The Tigers' own offense wasn't shut down by any means, Potts ob­served. The team took 19 shots on goal, a dozen of which Potts called "legitimate." Particularly in the last 10 minutes, WP strikers barely missed the upper corner of the Dragons' goal.

On the opposite end of the field, WP goalie Christian Caro posted five saves.

Friday's defeat, however, wasn't nearly as sharp as the 6-2 loss the Tigers suffered against the Dragons in Spokane earlier in the season, which underscores WP's improvement as a team, Potts said. But even the smaller loss means St. George remains the team to beat outside the Tigers' league if WP advances in the playoffs, he said.

"We have to get better," he said.

On Monday, WP improved its overall record to 8-4 with a 6-1 win over the WWVA Knights in Walla Walla. Forward Ivan Figueroa scored in the 12th minute with assistance from Ernesto Valdovinos, who scored unas­sisted in the 17th minute.

In the 23rd minute, the Knights scored an own goal on a defensive de­flection, putting the Tigers ahead 3-0. Valdovinos scored a fourth goal in the 34th minute before half time.

In the 59th minute, Caro scored the fifth WP goal, assisted by Luis Garcia. The Knights finally broke through the strong Tigers' defense in the 73rd min­ute to make it 5-1, but WP came right back in the form of a Tyler Fedderson goal in the 77th minute on an assist from Figueroa.

Potts said Valdovino's two goals were hard strikes from outside the penalty box at least 30 yards from the goal line.

WP put in its bench part way through the first half and again in the second half, giving the entire team a chance to get in on the action.

"Everyone got to play," Potts said.

Caro, who was on goal in the first half, had one save. Oscar Garcia, on goal in the second half, had two saves. Despite those performances and a de­cent show of strength in the back field, the Tigers' defense still isn't quite "where we want it to be," Potts said.

WP, now 3-0 in league, travels to Spokane on Friday to face Valley Christian.