QUINCY — The Quincy Jacks (11-3) defended home field Tuesday, defeating the Prosser Mustangs 3-1. This win provided a confidence boost for the team after hitting some obstacles in recent weeks, including losing their prior two games.  

According to Head Coach Javier Diaz, the win will help them find their mojo again.  

“These last several games, we've just been limited on how much we've been able to do it by scoring goals, and so that was the focus these last couple weeks was how do we get back to our shape,” said the coach. “We've been working on trying to get that confidence that we had, that shine – we had that brightness at the beginning. Lately we've been hesitant, we've been overthinking some of the attack moments, but today was a good day to find our rhythm.”

The Jacks got on the board fast, finding the net within the first five minutes of the game. They continued to dominate the possession as the clock ticked away. Midway through the half, the Jacks added a second goal for a 2-0 lead at halftime. The Mustangs made enough adjustments in the second half to get themselves on the board 2-1 with about 10 minutes to go. However, a costly penalty by Prosser set up a successful penalty kick by Alannah Longwill to seal the game in the final minutes.  

Diaz said the win also showed how this team responds to adversity.  

“They responded very well,” he said. “We've been emphasizing a little bit more at practice some of the things that we want to see out here. Every game that we've had, even the games that we lost, we have seen parts of what we've coached (and) the girls are doing it. We're building off that too as coaches, so today was one of those things where we said to be versatile. Let's not just try to score goals that are similar in style. That (was) good for step one, getting that versatility of different goals.” 

Getting the Jacks on the board in the first half were Arlene Balanos and Hailey Courtade, who both scored from close range off assists by teammates. Diaz praised Balanos for her soccer knowledge. 

“Her mentality and her fundamentals,” he said. “She is good up top, and she is physical and she can do a lot. We've learned these last couple weeks that she's also an excellent passer, so we try to utilize her in multiple facets.” 

Courtade was applauded for her similar skills but also her ability to create with the ball.  

“You see her – her strides are long, and she has a beautiful touch too, and a beautiful strike,” the coach said. “That goal she made was something that we've been also working on, crossing and closing that backside, and it was perfect. We talk about, ‘simple is our strength’, and so it doesn’t have to be magical every time, but simple. Arlene did that too, and that was good to see.” 

Alongside Balonas and Courtade, other players like Longwill, Brielle Baughman, Emiko Kondo and others displayed a willingness to play physically to maintain possession of the ball. Diaz noted this has been a focal point that has been embraced by his players this season, especially when it comes to competing in the Central Washington Athletic Conference.  

“The CWAC-they're physical. We play some very physical teams, and sometimes we've noticed that we might be the lesser physical team, and so we've emphasized that every practice too,” he said. “We've been really pushing the physicality, and it shows we have players that are physical. Addison (Compton) will body anybody, Haley will just use her frame to get through and fight, Julissa (Madera) too, I can give examples of everybody. Everybody has been physical and I'm proud of that.” 

The Jacks hit the road on Thursday when they play the Ephrata Tigers at 6 p.m. The Jacks and Tigers are both sitting 4-2 in their league records as they head into Thursday’s game. 

Diaz and his team are eager to take Tuesday’s win as a building block as the regular season winds down.  

“This is a good one to hopefully finish the season out strong and then look forward to the postseason and today is hopefully a good step forward in that right direction,” he said.  

BOX SCORE:  

PRSR: 0-1: 1 

QNCY: 2-1: 3

    Hailey Courtade (9) beats two Prosser defenders to the ball during their game on Tuesday.
  

    Brielle Baughman (20) muscles for an advantage against a Prosser defender as they chase down the ball.
  

    The Jacks’ Addison Compton (12) gets a pass off with a Prosser defender on her heels.