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Tigers' defense not enough against Payette
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 SHAKE AND MOVE: LHS and Payette had many battles at midfield in the Pirates’ 5-2 win Tuesday in La Grande. The Observer/Casey Kellas Despite the home crowd support and sunny skies, the Tigers couldn’t keep up with the offensive attack of the Pirates in a 5-2 loss. Payette controlled the ball for most of the first half and had a decisive edge in shots on goal. Because of that ball control, the Pirates were able to strike early with two goals just minutes into the game. “We knew they were a good team coming in,” head coach Dan Mielke said. “They scored eight goals their previous game against a pretty good Ontario team, so we knew they could put the ball in the goal.”La Grande kept battling and working the ball up-field when Edgar Arceo got clear and scored to make it a 2-1 game. Another Pirates’ goal minutes later gave Payette a two-shot lead again until Arceo was tripped up in the box and received a penalty kick, which he converted for his second goal of the game and cut the lead back down to one. “I was really pleased with how the kids responded after giving up those first couple of goals,” Mielke said. “We kept the pressure on them, which is really saying something.” The Pirates scored two more times in the first half to take a 5-2 lead at intermission. The second half saw far fewer goals, but more intensity on the field. Numerous times both teams were battling for the ball at midfield, and the defenses for both squads buckled down and didn’t allow any goals. “I thought we played better in the second half than we did in the first simply because we didn’t allow them anything. We got after it and stayed in the game, we just couldn’t get our offense going.” Mielke attributed the second half defensive effort to his goalkeeper Tanner Green, Treyce Schireman, Zane Smith and James Mathson. The Tigers can take a lot of positives away from this game according to Mielke, like playing toe-toe with the defending Idaho state champions. “We stepped up and were ready for the challenge,” he said. “I think that shows what type of character these kids have. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we’ll have some confidence after this one.” La Grande won’t have to wait long to put that confidence on display, as they travel to Baker for a conference showdown with the Bulldogs Thursday. The game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
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