Washington gets its first postseason win since 2008

Washington?s postseason drought had been so long that head boys? soccer coach Steven Caulk didn?t even know the program had ever won a playoff match.

The Demons hadn?t won in the postseason since 2008, but they ended a four-year postseason losing streak with a 4-1 win at Fort Madison in Tuesday?s Class 2A substate quarterfinals.

?To be honest with you, I wasn?t even aware that they?d won in 2008,? said Caulk, who is his first season as the Demons? head coach.

It was a big accomplishment for a Washington squad that didn?t win a single match last season. The Demons improved to 3-9 this season and will travel to face No. 6 Solon (12-2-2) in tonight?s regional semifinals.

?Based on our performance last year, there weren?t too many people even around our own school that thought we could [win a postseason match], but we beat Fort Madison yesterday 4-1,? Caulk said. ?It?s a great feeling.?

Washington scored first in Tuesday?s match when junior Mason Quigley got a rebound off of the keeper and booted it into the net. But the Bloodhounds (3-12) answered less than a minute later when freshman Braxton Williams scored.

?We scored first, but then they scored within one minute, which was kind of a letdown,? Caulk said. ?So it was 1-1 and again anybody?s game.?

The match was still tied at halftime, when Caulk challenged his team to step up and play better in the contest?s final 40 minutes.

?Honestly, we struggled in the first half,? Caulk said. ?Fort Madison looked really good. We made some adjustments at halftime, and I told them, ?Look, if you guys want to keep playing soccer, you have to do more than you did in the first half.? They listened. We came out in the second half and looked really good. We kept Fort Madison from getting another point, and we picked up another three goals in the second half.?

Junior Amado Marcelino scored 10 minutes into the second half to give Washington the lead, and then freshman Christian Mejia added a goal. Quigley scored his second goal of the match on a powerful kick from 30 yards out that drilled Fort Madison?s goalkeeper and rolled into the goal.

Meanwhile, Washington?s defense, led by sophomore Justin Craig, junior Chris Avila, sophomore Sebastian De La Rosa and freshman Gustavo Najera, played much better in the second half and held the Bloodhounds scoreless. Sophomore Jacob Baughman made 15 saves in goal.

?In the second half we did a much better job of shutting down their offense,? Caulk said. ?We struggled in the first half, but played a totally different game in the second half.?

Caulk said that if his Demons can play as they did in the second half of Tuesday?s game, they have a chance to win another postseason match tonight in Solon.

?I think if we play like we did in the second half, we?ll have a chance,? he said. ?We?ll have to shore up any holes in our defense and play pretty aggressively.?