Hat trick by Gonzalez not enough

Deivid Gonzalez indented both nets with soccer balls Monday, but Hockinson countered and held on to beat Washougal 4-3 at Fishback Stadium.

The Hawks scored two goals within the first 10 minutes of the game. Gonzalez then scored back-to-back goals for the Panthers in seven minutes to tie the score. Alex Flansburg and Christian Schicker had the assists on those two big breakthroughs.

“I know that I’m very fast. I haven’t meet somebody who’s faster than me,” Gonzalez said. “I told my teammates to get me that through ball, they did that and I hooked it in.”

For the next seven minutes, Washougal had all the momentum. The Panthers inched closer to the goal, but then slipped up and had to chase down Philip Warthen with the ball for Hockinson. Warthen scored the tie breaking goal and the Hawks headed into halftime with a 3-2 advantage.

“We played well enough to win that game,” said Washougal head coach John Tyger. “It had nothing to do with gut, desire or hard work. The one thing was a lack of concentration that allowed that kid to break through and score that goal before halftime.”

Washougal looked exhausted in the second half. Hockinson took advantage of another miscue and scored an insurance goal with 13 minutes left in the game.

This only seemed to anger Gonzalez and the rest of the Panthers. It took them less than two minutes to respond. Gonzalez retrieved a chip shot by Sam Salazar and blasted the ball into the net. The sequence received thunderous applause by the faithful Panther fans.

“That last one was so powerful,” Tyger said. “It was an unbelievable goal.”

“It felt amazing,” Gonzalez added. “That’s class. That’s just not giving up. We know what we’re made of and we showed it out there.”

Gonzalez took the blame for Hockinson’s fourth goal because he allowed his man to get away. All of the sudden, the Panthers had 11 minutes to try and tie the score again. It didn’t happen on this night, but Gonzalez is excited for the games ahead.

“If we can win the rest of our games, we can still get to districts,” he said. “It’s a far cry, but it’s still possible. That’s what we’re playing for. We still have hope.”

Washougal (1-8, 0-5) hosts Hudson’s Bay Wednesday and goes to Mark Morris Friday. Both games start at 7 p.m.

“These boys are gaining confidence in each other,” Tyger said. “They have learned where they can function best on the field, and I think that’s going to help us out in the long run.”