Playing in its final regular season game in Chehalis this year, the W.F. West boys soccer team held on to defeat Rochester on Senior Night, 2-1, Tuesday night.
The Bearcats outshot the Warriors and maintained possession almost all night, but found the Rochester defense tough to crack. W.F. West had 19 shots to the Warriors’ one.
“We maintained good possession of the ball,” Bearcats coach Allen Anderson said. “Rochester plays really good defense and we struggled to find passing lanes and break them down in the final third. We did create chances but they were tight to their marks all night and made it difficult for us.”
The Bearcats got the scoring started in the 11th minute, when Elvis Leal Perez found the back of the net off a slick find from Cameron Hinkley, but were held off the scoreboard despite peppering shots for the next 60 minutes of gametime.
Cody Pennington finally broke through in the 75th off an Damien Hernandez assist, and Rochester scored its first goal on its only shot in the 78th to make things interesting. Jaime Rodriguez Meraz scored the goal for the Warriors.
“We suited up all 16 seniors and they all played,” Anderson said. “Everyone got good minutes. It was a nice complete team performance. I’m proud of the guys, it was a great way to end our league season with a win for our seniors.”
As the 2A Evergreen Conference’s No. 2 team, the Bearcats will play host to the Greater St. Helens’ League’s No. 3 R.A. Long on Saturday at Noon in the first round of the District 4 playoffs this weekend.
