Tigers Come Up Clutch in PKs to Beat Shelton

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After blowing a 2-0 lead at the half, Centralia boys soccer came up clutch in penalty kicks to clip Shelton for a 2A Evergreen Conference road victory on Friday.

The Tigers struck early with Brayan Orellana-Gamez knocking in a goal in just the seventh minute off an assist by Abdelaziz “Simba” Osman.

 Osman gave the Tigers even more breathing room in the 30th minute when he converted a penalty kick to make it 2-0 Centralia at the half.

But the Highclimbers wouldn’t go away easily on their home pitch, scoring two second-half goals to end regulation at 2-2 and send the match to overtime and eventually penalty kicks.

“We had some lack of pressure in certain situations that allowed for (Shelton) to break the lines and we gave up two goals,” Centralia coach Henry Gallanger said.

Put in PKs, the Tigers were on-point, including their keeper, Carlos Hernandez, who made two big saves to keep Centralia alive.



Centralia converted all four of its kicks from Osman, Leo Perez, Kilmer Alverto-Gabarrette and Orellana-Gamez to secure the victory.

“Another ugly win but a good win, nonetheless,” Gallanger said. “Guys never stopped working.”

Gallanger praised the play of his keeper, Hernandez, along with his mids, Osman, Perez and Lopez.

“Hernandez did a great job overall,” Gallanger said. “Learned from his mistakes, kept his head on straight and made the saves when needed. Our mids did a great job in the middle, getting the balls up to Brayan and Didi to create opportunities.”

Centralia next hosts Tumwater at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in another league matchup.