The Grays Harbor Gulls took another step away from relegation with a key 4-2 road victory over the Issaquah Gunners on Saturday.
Grays Harbor (4-2 Western Washington Premier League) picked up an important three points with the road win to move five points out of the relegation cutoff and into fourth place in the standings.
The Gulls didn’t waste any time getting on the board, picking up their first tally less than a minute into the match. Juan Oropeza finished a cross into the box from Alex Barene to put Grays Harbor up 1-0 early.
Gulls assistant coach Ben Barene said the first-minute goal was exactly the start he was hoping for.
“That’s what we talked about in practice leading up to the game and with our team before the game. We wanted to get on them from the beginning and not start slow,” he said. “We were really happy that we did that and scored on our first possession.”
The Gunners (2-15) evened up the match with a goal by Luis Daniel Miller in the 28th minute, but the game wouldn’t stayed tied for long.
Grays Harbor responded with another goal in the 38th minute when Oropeza beat the goalie one-on-one and crossed the ball across the empty goal to Alex Barene who headed it into the net with a defender on his heels.
Oropeza created problems for the Gunners back line yet again in the 41st minute when he found himself one-on-one with the keeper again, but this time finished off the play himself to put the Gulls up 3-1 heading into halftime.
Coach Barene said that Oropeza’s recent play at center midfielder has helped solidify the whole position group.
“He’s a good leader and he knows what he’s doing at all times,” he said. “He’s solid with the ball, solid with communication and he can really cover the whole field for us, which is what we need from that position.”
Jacob Irwin got in on the scoring act in the 50th minute after Tony Oropeza drew a foul about five yards outside the 18-yard box.
Irwin’s free-kick attempt made it over the Gunners defensive wall and out of the reach of the keeper as the ball sailed into the top right hand corner of the goal to put Grays Harbor up 4-1.
Bruno Ponce added another goal for Issaquah in the 78th minute, but the Gulls limited chances down the stretch to cruise to a two-goal victory.
Ben Barene said picking up three points was huge with the tough slate of games the Gulls have to close out the season.
“This was really a massive game because looking at the final four opponents we’ve got, they’re all ahead of us in the standings, so I know we have our hands full,” he said. “We like where we are and we know we’ve got some really tough games ahead so we’re glad that we’re getting the form that we’re getting right now.”
Grays Harbor has a bye week and will be back home for its next match on June 22 against Kirkland FC at 3 p.m.
Kirkland won the league title last year but currently sits just three points outside of relegation this season.
Grays Harbor 2 2 — 4
Issaquah 1 1 — 2
Top Players: Grays Harbor — Juan Oropeza (G, 1st and 41st minute), Alex Barene (G, 38th minute), Iriwn (G, 50th minute); Issaquah — Miller (G, 28th minute ), Ponce (G, 78th minute).
