ELLENSBURG — After long and physical battle, the Othello Huskies (6-7) fell just short 2-1 to the Ellensburg Bulldogs in the semifinals of the District 5 2A Girls Soccer Tournament on Saturday. Despite the final result, the Huskies aren’t hanging their heads. 

“That's just a game of just two halves,” Head Coach Victor Quiroz said. “That first half (Ellensburg) dominated. The second half, I think we had a better half. It's unfortunate – that goal, my goalkeeper had it in her hand, slipped out and the (Ellensburg) girl was right there on that backside to put it in. Autumn (Weyns) had a good shot on goal. She's been hitting that crossbar this whole year. We fought till the end, and you could tell we were there.”

Ellensburg brought the physicality early, putting Othello on the defensive. Despite goalkeeper JoJo Hernandez-Guevara making several gutsy saves, the Bulldogs were able to slip a score in with about 13 minutes left in the first half. The score remained 1-0 through halftime, but it was the Huskies bringing the physical game right back to the Bulldogs in the second half.  

That along with their halftime adjustments allowed Othello to put Ellensburg on the defensive early on, leading to a chaotic goal scored by Paisley Sly to tie it up 1-1. With about 23 minutes still to go, both teams went to battle for possession and momentum. Bodies were hitting the turf as each team jockeyed for an advantage. However, the Bulldogs found a window under two minutes left to reclaim the lead 2-1.  

Despite the late goal, the Huskies knew there was still a lot of time to work with. A late penalty by Ellensburg gave Othello a chance to strike off a free kick. Autumn Weyns took that shot and nearly completed it, but the ball ricocheted off the top cross bar allowing time to run out. 

Whether it was in the attack or on defense, the Huskies navigated several scenarios where traffic got heavy on the field. On defense, Ellensburg crowded the box a lot, making it hard to track the ball at times, but the goalkeeper and fellow defenders were able to boot the ball away on multiple occasions. In the attack, it was situations like Sly’s goal that the Huskies benefited from that chaos.  

“It's just the mentality, like, ‘Hey, do you see a ball? I'm going to go get it. I'm going to go chase it,’” Quiroz said. “That's what they have in their heads every single time. That's (how) we scored against Ephrata, and that's how we scored here. Just being in the right spots. They know where to be. They know how to play.” 

Though he felt the Bulldogs were more physical in the first half, Quiroz said he was proud of how his players responded in the second half, bringing the physicality back to them.  

“They were more physical, they wanted it more, and that's what it looked like,” said the coach. “Every ball in the air they were getting, and I told them that in the second half you have to do that. You have to win every ball in the air. You have to press them, and you have to because they're going to make mistakes. They're going to give you the ball, and we saw a little bit of that in the first half when we were pressing their defenders.” 

Though they fell short of making the district championship game, everything the Huskies have been playing for still lies ahead of them. They’ll have to take a longer road to the state tournament, as they’ll face off against the Selah Vikings on Nov. 3, with a location and time still to be determined, according to the tournament bracket.  

If they’re able to overcome the Vikings, Othello will enter a crossover game for a chance to punch their ticket to the state tournament. With that in mind, Quiroz was encouraging in his postgame message to his players.  

“Just brush it off, you win two more games, you're in,” he said. “It's not over yet. It's just going to be harder for them to get there, but I believe in them, and I think they can do it if they play like they did in the second half.”  

Quiroz is also aware of the historical implications of the Huskies' journey in the postseason so far. 

“They (haven’t) been here in a while,” he said. “I had to go back and ask my AD (Carlos Gonzalez) when was the last time they went to state... that was 2010. It's been a while. For them, it's a big accomplishment to be where they're at right now. But it’d be a bigger accomplishment if they get to where they want to be at, and that's at state.” 

BOX SCORE: 

OTHL: 0-1: 1 

EBRG: 1-1: 2 

    Autumn Weyns (20) takes a free kick in the final moments of the Huskies game against Ellensburg on Saturday.
  

    The Othello Huskies celebrate after Paisley Sly scored a goal against Ellensburg on Saturday.
  

    Khloe Valdez (2) cuts off an Ellensburg player in their pursuit to the ball on Saturday.