Lynden knew it would be tough to win at Meridian, but Jose Rios had the answer
Lynden boys soccer coach Drew Smiley admits he was a little concerned about facing Meridian Tuesday.
“Meridian is not an easy place to play,” Smiley said. “They have a very good team. Meridian is a team that is going to do some damage this year.”
On Tuesday, it was the Lions’ Jose Rios who did most of the damage, as he scored the first goal and assisted on two others in the Lynden’s 3-0 Northwest Conference victory.
“Jose had a good game,” Smiley said. “He found a lot of open space. They sat back a little, and he was able to come up and find some space, and Jose can do a lot when he has room to work with.”
He took an assist from Nick Parris to put Lynden on the board in the 15th minute, before assisting Ernesto Zamora’s score in the 25th minute and Parris in the 57th. Jonathan Lara picked up Lynden’s first shutout of the year, and his defense deserved a lot of the credit for keeping the Trojans’ attack at bay, Smiley said.
Sehome 3, Blaine 1 – A high press prevented the Borderites from being able to send the ball out and forced them to play long balls, Sehome coach Richard Henderson said, and the Mariners were able to play those well in the NWC win. Sehome’s first score came on an own goal off a free kick by Jack Miller, before Donny Fazio added a second score and Dylan Cox scored on a penalty kick.
Ferndale 5, Anacortes 1 – After dominating the most of the first half, the Golden Eagles gave up an “unfortunate” goal a minute before halftime and found themselves down, coach Rigel Weis said. But Ferndale bounced back behind solid teamwork and effort to claim the NWC victory. Tobias Werz-Heine and Josh Garza each scored two second half goals, while Javier Armada-Guillen had a goal and an assist to lead the comeback. Lucas Amador, Brendan Jensen, Zach Sorenson and Isaac Oseguera also logged assists.
Squalicum 4, Lakewood 0 – The Cougars defense came ready for the Storm’s potent attack but couldn’t hold up for 80 minutes, as Squalicum peppered the Lakewood goal with 30 shots and forced 15 saves in a NWC victory. Tyler Nguyen broke a scoreless tie seconds before halftime on an assist by Bailey Wilson, before Erin Brandt, Ale Tomasi and Tyler Hughes added second-half scores. Justice Chala had and assist, and Ricardo Solano and the defense recorded Squalicum’s fourth shutout of the year.
Bellingham 8, Sedro-Woolley 0 – Miles Henkel recorded his first hat trick, including two goals in the game’s first 11 minutes, to lead the Red Raiders to the NWC victory. Aaron Carter had a goal and two assists, while Connor Steward and Liam Burke each had a goal and an assist. Casey Carter and Matt Harley recorded the other two goals for Bellingham, while Joe Worley picked up the Red Raiders’ second consecutive shutout.
Burlington-Edison 3, Mount Baker – The Tigers kept the Mountaineers winless so far this season with the NWC victory. No other information from the game was reported.
This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 9:55 PM with the headline "Lynden knew it would be tough to win at Meridian, but Jose Rios had the answer."