Braves soccer win 2-1 on Senior Night

La Conner High School senior Thomas Kitchen and his Braves teammates unleashed heat that Providence Classical Christian defenders couldn't handle during conference boys' home soccer action Friday night.

Kitchen delivered a laser shot into the net at the 6:33 mark of the first half to break a scoreless tie and give La Conner a lead it wouldn't surrender enroute to a 2-1 Senior Night triumph in cold and wet conditions at Whittaker Field.

"We've been playing a lot better," Kitchen said afterward. "Our passes have been a lot crisper."

That was shown about 15 minutes into the second half when Flint Huizenga scored what proved to be the match winning goal off a nice feed from the wing by fellow freshman Lane Tenborg.

Head coach Galen McKnight praised his club's ability to make crisp passes and repeatedly put pressure on the Providence defense. Offensively, they were especially effective in the first half getting the ball to sweeper Sammy Williams.

"We did a real good job of finding Sammy in the middle," McKnight said.

Kitchen found the net eight minutes later after Isa Gonzales-Rojas and Lane Tenborg deftly advanced the ball up the east sideline. Among those cheering Kitchen's goal was his grandmother, Julie Smith, who traveled from Rexford, Montana for Senior Night festivities and arrived just in time to see the scoring play.

Gonzales-Rojas, a defensive midfielder and among the half dozen seniors honored at halftime, teamed with freshman Hadden Zimmerman to ward off several Providence attacks, most notably in the second half.

Senior goalkeeper Isaiah Price, another basketball player McKnight has recruited, sealed the verdict with a crucial save on a Providence corner kick in the final seconds.

Both teams battled through tough weather after an warm and dry October. McKnight set up a protective tent on the Braves sideline to protect players from the rain.

"Last year," McKnight noted, "we had to set that tent up every home match."

La Conner, 4-9-1 overall (2-4 in league) resumed its NW2B/1B schedule at Coupeville late Tuesday.

Sports teams summary

The volleyball team remained undefeated and atop the NW2B/1B ladder with a straight sets home win over Friday Harbor Oct. 20. The state champions were scheduled at Coupeville last night and are visiting Manson today, Oct. 26 and Chelan tomorrow in non-league makeup matches that had been postponed last month. They return home Friday to face 2A Squalicum of Bellingham at 6:30 p.m.

The football team fell to 1-5 Friday night with a 78-0 defeat at league champion Coupeville. It looks to regroup this Thursday with a Senior Night home date opposite non-conference foe Ilwaco. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.

Due to poor regional air quality Oct. 20, middle school and high school girls' soccer matches games were canceled.