Behind two goals within the first 20 minutes on Friday night, the W.F. West High School boys soccer team secured a vital 2-1 victory over Black Hills in an Evergreen Conference showdown at home.
It puts the Bearcats (6-7, 5-3 EvCo) in the driver’s seat for at least a third place finish in the league. They close the regular season at home against Tumwater, trailing the T-Birds by one game in the loss column. They hadn’t won two straight since a three-match win streak that ended on April 1.
Uzi Lopez Cruz found the back of the net in the 15th minute off a feed from Alex Mathuzima, then the senior attacker returned the favor to assist Adrian Jaimes’ goal five minutes later. Black Hills (4-8-2, 2-7) cut the margin in half on a goal in the 52nd minute, but couldn’t find the equalizer.
“The boys played well, particularly in the first half,” W.F. West head coach Allen Anderson said. “We had some really nice passing sequences tonight and created some good chances from it. Nice to get a couple of wins after a rough couple of weeks.”
The Wolves close the season on the road against Shelton, where a victory and a Centralia loss will clinch the fourth and final spot for the league in the district tournament.
