A8 — BAKER CITY HERALD
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2021
SPORTS
BAKER BOYS SOCCER
Quintela’s hat trick leads Baker to tie
By COREY KIRK
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
On a chilly fall night
when six seniors were hon-
ored, the Baker boys soccer
team played to a 3-3 tie with
rival La Grande Wednesday,
Oct. 13, at the Baker Sports
Complex.
Baker junior Diego Quin-
tela had a hat trick to lead
the Bulldogs (1-7-1) against
the Tigers (3-2-2).
“I’m very proud,” Baker
coach Victor Benites said.
“The whole team played well,
even kids that came off the
bench, they did what I asked
them to do.”
Benites said he told his
players to be prepared for a
physical match.
“We always know how
rough they (La Grande) are,
and the only thing I told our
players is to be aggressive,”
Benites said.
About nine minutes into
the match, Quintela had a
route to the goal, but was
side bumped by La Grande’s
Brady Hutchins. Lining up
for the penalty kick, Quintela
said he had a specifi c plan.
“It’s more so just know-
ing it’s not all about power,
it’s more so about where you
place it,” he said. “It’s just
mainly trying to go corners
and seeing where he’s (goal-
keeper) light on his feet.”
Quintela found the net to
give Baker an early 1-0 lead.
The Tigers were quick to
respond, as senior Lamar
Langidrik scored in the
11th minute. Later in the
fi rst half, La Grande junior
Brayden Sundbrock found
the back of the net after a
corner kick, giving the Tigers
a 2-1 lead at halftime.
Benites said he and his
coaching staff encouraged
the Bulldogs to be positive
about their position.
“The assistant coach John
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
Baker junior Diego Quintela scored each of Baker’s
three goals in a 3-3 tie with La Grande on Wednesday,
Oct. 13 at the Baker Sports Complex.
Corey Kirk/Baker City Herald
(Quintela) and I told them,
‘you guys can do it, you are
a better team then they are
and you can do this — do
this for the seniors,’” Benites
said. “They got pumped up
and they started playing a
little better.”
But it was La Grande
that struck fi rst in the
second half, when junior
Landon Perry scored in the
fi rst 10 minutes, extending
the Tigers’ lead to 3-1.
But they didn’t score
again.
“The defense was working
really hard, fi ghting for that
ball and (stopping) the goals,”
Diego Quintela said.
On the other side, Quin-
tela found the back of the
net on a cross in the 29th
minute, cutting La Grande’s
lead to 3-2.
“It was mainly seeing
where the keeper was not
closest to, so looking at that
far left corner, just trying to
get as much spin on it as I
can, and trying to get it over
his head,” Quintela said of
his second goal.
Just a few minutes later,
Powder Valley freshman Alan Bedolla, No. 30, defends against La Grande sophomore
Darian Rodrigues midway through the second half of a 3-3 tie Wednesday, Oct. 13 at
the Baker Sports Complex.
Quintela once again was
awarded a penalty kick, and
again he converted the op-
portunity, completing the hat
trick and tying the score.
“I’m pretty proud of him
(Quintela),” Benites said. “He
did an excellent job.”
With 10 minutes left
both teams tried to break
the deadlock, but the fi nal
whistle sounded with the
score still knotted at three.
Benites hopes the Bull-
dogs carry their confi dence
into today’s fi nal home
match against Ontario (4-3-
3). It kicked off at noon.
“If they keep playing the
same way they are ... we can
come out with a win hope-
fully for Saturday,” Benites
said.
Baker lost 3-0 at Ontario
on Sept. 29.
Quintela said he was
happy to contribute to the tie
against La Grande in his se-
nior teammates’ fi nal game
against La Grande.
“I’m very proud,” Quin-
tela said. “Hard work from
everyone that I know. One
of the last seniors’ games,
we talked about it before the
game, do it for them. It was
amazing to get a tie against
La Grande, a team we lost to
the last few years.”
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Saint Alphonsus and Albertsons are partnering to provide
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October 7, 7 AM – 4 PM
October 11, 18 & 25, 7 AM - 4 PM
The Albertsons Mobile unit will be located:
SAINT ALPHONSUS BAKER CLINIC
3175 Pocahontas Road, Baker City
Enter through entrance on Midway Drive
Please pre-register for your appointment at the below links:
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