WAVERLY — The Washington Blue Lion boys soccer team put up a fight at Tiger Stadium in Waverly Thursday, Sept. 7, but came up short in a 3-2 defeat.

Waverly scored early on a failed clearance by the Washington defense, and then scored the second goal of the match heading in a corner kick ten minutes into the game.

“It took a few minutes on the field for our defense to get organized.” Washington Blue Lion head coach Aaron Teter said. “Overall, I was extremely impressed with our defense, but giving up those two early goals ended up costing us the result.”

Washington threatened the Tiger defense several times in the first half, regularly sending striker Blaise Tayese on through balls. Washington’s first goal came on such a play.

Captain Nate Horton stole the ball from a Waverly defender at the 21 minute mark in the first half. Within two touches he had centered to Tayese who finished the goal. The halftime score favored the Tigers, 2-1.

Waverly scored three minutes into the second half on a headed corner kick very similar to their previous goal. Washington made the score 3-2 with a goal by senior Jack Luebbe, assisted by Tayese. This closed the night’s scoring.

Teter mentioned several defenders as standouts.

“Trent Langley, Alan Bailey, Allan Schreckengaust, and Nick Bishop really stepped up their games tonight. All are fairly new to the positions they played, and with (goalkeeper) Darion Strietenberger and Jordan Behm, they held down the fort for the full 80 minutes.”

Washington is now 0-3, and plays four games next week, sharing each event with the girls varsity team. The teams host Jackson on Tuesday (for Senior Night), travel to Fairfield (Leesburg) Wednesday, to McClain on Thursday, and to London on Saturday.