MATTAWA — An early Kiona-Benton goal was too much for the Wahluke Warriors to overcome in Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to the Bears, as Wahluke struggled to generate offense against the league leaders.

“We’re a young team so there’s a lack of experience, especially on defense,” Wahluke coach Cele Lopez said. “On the transitions, going from offense and coming and trying to play defense, it’s really hard. Hopefully we get better on that.”

Kiona-Benton netted a goal in just the second minute of Tuesday night’s match, scoring off a shot following a deflection by Warrior goalkeeper Azeneth Ruiz. The deflection was not picked up and cleared by the Wahluke defense and resulted in a goal for the Bears.

“Any sport, but in soccer especially, if you’re not prepared mentally (for the game), it’s a bummer,” Lopez said. “You have to try harder and you have to be able to deal with that. The mindset, it’s a different animal.”

Wahluke found it difficult to connect on passes throughout the contest, limiting opportunities on offense. The Warriors saw near-goal shots in the 10th and 45th minutes, but missed, narrowly, over the post in both instances.

“It’s really hard to connect passes if you’re not talking. We’re not moving, we’re not asking for the ball – that’s most likely what we’re going to look like,” Lopez said, referring to Tuesday’s loss. “We grab the ball in the middle, try to send the long ball to nobody.”

Along with the lack of communication, the Warriors have been adjusting the lineup with a recent injury to one of their forwards, which hasn’t helped the offense find success.

“We’re trying to find whoever is going to cover for that position, and we haven’t found it,” Lopez said. “I tried to move around my defenders, we moved too many people around and then we ended up suffering and paying the consequences on the bottom line.”

Kiona-Benton clinched the South Central Athletic Conference (East) title with the win, finishing a game ahead of the Royal Knights. Wahluke finished the regular season in fourth place of the league, but still qualified for districts. 

The SCAC district tournament begins on Thursday; Royal, a No. 2 seed, hosts No. 3 La Salle at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Wahluke, a No. 4 seed, travels to No. 1 Naches Valley at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Lopez said he hopes to see the team’s mentality flip with the start of districts later this week.

“It’s been really tough on the mentality this year,” he said. “I understand we don’t have the same talent as different years, but we still have a really good group, an athletic group. Players that know how to shoot, players that know how to pass. There’s athleticism, it’s just the mentality part; we cannot connect, we cannot engage.”

Before the final game of the regular season, Wahluke honored the team’s four seniors; Ruiz. midfielder Salma Martinez, striker Kylee Tirado and left wing Angelica Fabela. 

“I’m really sad for our seniors, I thought we were going to have a better outcome on the score,” Lopez said. 

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box score

KiBe: 1-1 2

Wah: 0-0 0

    Wahluke sophomore Yaria Gonzalez (19) starts to pass the ball to a teammate near the Kiona-Benton net.
  

    Wahluke junior Maria Barajas kicks the ball upfied in the first half against Kiona-Benton.
  

    Wahluke seniors smile for photos during the senior ceremony before Tuesday’s game against Kiona-Benton.