Late in the first half of last Thursday's Trico Division soccer match at Hockinson, Columbia High was staring at a 1-0 deficit.
The Hawks had scored on a breakaway in the sixth minute of action and were protecting the lead with a stingy defensive effort.
They had a chance to double it in the 20th minute with a successful penalty kick. Hockinson's attempt hit the goal post, however, and the shooter was the first to touch it after the ricochet.
That second illegal touch by the shooter, said Bruins Coach Peter Knowles, resulted in a dead ball whistle and a CHS possession.
"We got saved there," Knowles noted. "If we had gone down 2-0, it would've been hard for us to come back because Hockinson is a very good defensive team."
But later in the match, after CHS had scored the tying and go-ahead goals for an eventual 2-1 victory, Hockinson's defensive-mindedness would prove to be its downfall.
"When your game plan is predicated on stopping the other team, it's hard to flip the switch and get the energy flowing in the other direction," Knowles said. "Hockinson's inability to build a consistent attack certainly helped us."
The Bruins tied the match a one apiece in the last minute of the first half when senior forward Roger Wilson scored his first goal of the season off a cross from sophomore midfielder Juan Ramirez.
That scoring play capped an otherwise lackluster first-half performance by the Bruins, who were playing for their playoff lives.
At halftime, Knowles had just one message for his players. "I told them that if they wanted to go to the playoffs this year, they had to win this match."
That proved to be all the incentive the Bruins needed.
In the second half, Columbia took control of the match, mounting attack after attack.
One of those attacks paid off when Lachino scored off a touch by sophomore Whitney Butler in the 54th minute, during a two-on-five break.
"After we got that goal, we started pouring it on, looking for a third goal to ice it," Knowles said.
A third goal never materialized, but the Bruins demonstrated they were clearly the better team.
In 80 minutes of soccer, Columbia launched 23 shots (13 on goal) and limited Hockinson to five shots (four on goal).
Butler and classmate Demetrio Sanchez each attempted five shots. Ramirez tried four, and Wilson and sophomore Jesus Mendoza each put the foot to three.
"That was a lot of shots against a good defensive team," Knowles observed.
At Ridgefield 9, Columbia High 1 --
The Bruins couldn't match the Spudders' firepower during their April 20 Trico match.
Ridgefield outshot Columbia, 22-9, on its way to his eighth division victory.
"We were only down, 3-1, at halftime, and then we just sort of came unglued in the second half," Bruins Coach Peter Knowles said.
The Spudders scored in the 12th and 13th minutes to take a 2-0 lead and added another goal in the 19th for a 3-1 halftime advantage.
CHS's only goal of the night came in the 17th minute when senior forward Ryan Dittmer knocked in the rebound of Demetrio Sanchez' free kick.
That was a small consolation for the Bruins: scoring against a team that had previously recorded 10 shutouts.
That said, Ridgefield won the junior varsity match, 10-0.
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