Washington boys edge Fairfield

FAIRFIELD — In last years two meetings between Fairfield and Washington, the Trojans were winners in each. On Thursday night the Demons got some revenge, downing the Trojans 4-2 in their first meeting of the season.

The rivalry lived up to the hype, as both teams battled back and forth throughout the first half. Each created a handful of chances in the first 10 minutes of the game, but it was the Demons that would get on the board first.

At the 27:24 mark, the Demons drew a free kick around 15 yards outside the Fairfield box. Bill De La Rosa delivered with a lazer into the left side of the goal for the first goal of the game.

Fairfield didn’t waver. The Trojans immediently put pressure on the Demons, but Cole Anderson held strong for Washington in goal. Anderson stopped five shots from goal beginning at 26:00 until the final minutes of the half.

“We have a blessing that not many teams in our area have in that we have three talented goalies,” Washington coach Sally Hart said. “Tonight, Cole was ready to go. He’s a senior and he knows how to focus all the way through a game. It’s really neat to think back to his freshman year and to where he is now and all the hard work he’s put in.”

Anderson would end the night with 11 saves.

With 1:40 second to go, Washington struck again. DaShaun Westphal-Edwards sent a perfectly place ball ahead, finding Kevin Marcelino for the second score of the game.

Washington looked as if they were going to head into the half with all the momentum, but with 43 seconds to go, Fairfield found an answer.

As the ball came back to Anderson in goal with the intent to clear, he missed the kick leaving the Fairfield’s Andrew Twohill wide-open for the score.

At the half, the Demons held a 2-1 lead.

Coming out of the half, Fairfield continued to apply pressure on the offensive end. Washington never broke.

“We have three sophomores that start on our defensive line,” Hart said. “They’ve played together since they’ve been able to walk. They communicate really well. They know how to move the ball up the field really well. Two of our captains are defenders. It’s their leadership.”

The Demons picked up their third goal of the night 10 minutes into the second, with Fredy Aguilar finding the net off a pass from Marcelino.

Fairfield answered back four minutes later, 26:07, with Everett Elliason scoring off an Jayvin Guezimane assist to make it a one goal game once again, 3-2.

A game that was easily in reach for the Trojans quickly got harder as the Demons made it a two goal game again just 30 second later, 4-2, as De La Rosa grabbed his second goal of the night and Marcelino his second assist.

The Trojans were never able to find an answer and Washington secured the victory.

“The big difference was the mistakes that we made,” Fairfield coach Felisberto Guezimane said. “All four of their goals came out of our mistakes. We made mistakes and we paid for them. They capitalized and we lost the game. We created some chances and had some good stuff.”

Mikael Anderson finished with three saves for Fairfield.

With the win, Washington moves to 4-1. At 0-4, Fairfield still is in search for its first win.

“It’s gonna take some time,” Guezimane said of Fairfield finding its groove. “We just have to be patient and keep working. The kids will build their confidence.”

Washington will host Keokuk on Monday, and Fairfield will travel to Mt. Pleasant.