MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake crowd rose to its collective feet Friday night, almost willing the ball into the net, as Anthony Cortez gathered the ball in space and broke one-on-one with Sunnyside defender Jose Ramirez, pushing into the box.

Cortez, who earlier scored on a free kick by Erik Shaporda to cut into the Grizzlies' lead, had a chance to tie it with eight minutes remaining. The Chiefs striker bounced outside, shoulder-to-shoulder with Ramirez as back-up Sunnyside goalkeeper Artemio Morales rushed forward, leaving an empty net.

The Chiefs crowd raised its voice as the bench looked on. Cortez put a right foot on the ball, but one last shove by Ramirez put him off balance and the ball drifted wide, along with the Chiefs' best chance to tie the game.

Columbia Basin Big Nine leader Sunnyside (11-2-2, 9-3 CBBN) held on to win 5-4 at Lions Field.

Despite a hat trick by Grizzlies striker Gonzalo Frausto, the Chiefs (4-10-1, 2-9) rose to the occasion with three second-half goals and nearly upended the conference leader with seven more wins than they have.

“When I get balls like that I think of going forward and playing physical,” Cortez said. “The guy gave up, but I was off balance and not set up good, and it went too wide.”

Moses Lake scored the first goal of both halves. Shaporda beat Sunnyside goalkeeper Enrique Palma with a shot high and away, bending a nice ball just under the elbow in the 27th minute. Cortez made it a 3-2 match with a goal four minutes into the second half. In most situations, four goals is enough, but Sunnyside pressed hard to regain control every time Moses Lake scored.

Jose Marquez went high and away on a penalty kick to tie the match at 1-1 in the 28th minute and Frausto scored the first of his three goals on a beautiful ball at 36:50.

What could have been a crushing blow came right before the intermission when Frausto streaked down the left wing and sent a crosser through to Brian Licona, who scored in the 40th minute to make it a 3-1 Grizzlies lead.

“That's the thing about me and my teammates, we never stop playing until the last whistle,” Cortez said. “This season has been a little rough, but I'm always proud to represent my school and my town and I know the other guys feel the same way. We almost won the game in the end.”

Said Chiefs coach Rian Allred, “Our biggest goal of the season has been to play with mental toughness, stay calm and keep pushing,” he said. “I thought we played an extremely well in the first half tonight. We allowed some easy goals that should not have gone in. But I absolutely loved the never-quit attitude.”

That never-die attitude was put to the test in the 61st minute when Frausto gathered the ball just outside the box, whirled and put a laser from 30-yards out to beat Chiefs goaltender Eddie Reyes low and away to make it a 5-2 match.

“Overall we had some crucial defensive mistakes we need to clean up before districts,” said captain Daniel Sinchuk. “We have made some great steps this year. Going down 3-1 in the first half, we knew it was important to come out strong and we made it 3-2 right away. We tried to cut down the space at the midfield to give us more possessions and we had a chance to tie it in the end.”

The Chiefs wrap up the regular season on Tuesday against West Valley.

Score by halves

Scoring summary

• ML - Erik Shaporda (Anthony Cortez), 27:50
• S - Jose Marquez (penalty kick), 28:10
• S - Gonzaio Frausto, 36:51
• S - Brian Licona (Gonzaio Frausto), 39:35
• ML - Anthony Cortez, 44:48
• S - Gonzaio Frausto, 47:24
• S - Gonzaio Frausto, 59:35
• ML - Anthony Cortez (Erik Shaporda)
• ML - Eduardo Ramirez (penalty kick), 72: 56