WEED – The Weed Cougars needed a win to maintain the possibility of a 2-seed in the upcoming Shasta Cascade League tournament. The Etna Lions needed a win just to keep the tiniest chance alive to even make the tournament. A draw would have hurt both teams.

The first 30 minutes of the match was a draw, with Weed maintaining a slight territorial advantage. The first goal came when Lion Juan Castaneda slipped behind the Cougar defense and scored, giving the Lions a 1-0 advantage 31 minutes into the contest. Etna maintained the lead at the half.

During halftime, Weed held a senior parent appreciation ceremony, with the players presenting the mothers with roses. Principal Mike Ristuccia read comments that the players had written.

The Cougars came out with intensity in the second half, but were unable to solve the Etna defense, until the 63^rd minute. Then, Usmaro Sanchez found the back of the net, knotting the match at 1-1. Ten minutes later, Ruben Ducoing put a hard low shot into the left corner of the Lion goal for what proved to be the game winner.

With the win, Weed finishes with a SCL record of 7-3 (9-5), and will now wait to see the outcome of Fall River’s (6-3) remaining game against Trinity (4-5), on Thursday. A loss or a draw by Fall River, gives Weed second place in the SCL regular season, and a 2-seed in the tournament. A win by Fall River would tie them in the standings, and the league will have to go through the tiebreaking process.

The loss eliminated the Lions from going to the SCL tournament. Etna finished fifth in the league at 3-7 (3-9-1). The Lions lost their first five matches, and went 1-8 in their first nine. However, they improved throughout the season, and were 2-2-1 in the final five matches.